Together We Fall
by DethMarkDragoon
Summary: At 14 years old, Clementine knows all too well that this world is a dangerous place, however as she comes across new faces and old she realizes that it's harder than ever to survive alone. Now aided by new allies, she must utilize everything she's learned in order to defeat her greatest foe yet: William Carver.
1. New Beginnings

**What's up guys!? I'm known as the duke, but you may call me Theseus and this is my first ever (as far as the site) fanfiction ever. I'm really excited and I'd like to personally thank leafs nation for helping me out with my writing and also for being such a great inspiration. This story will be an AU from the video game and will not be taking the same route that it did. I haven't planned on bringing in any OC's yet but if you'd like I could bring some into the story if you PM me their profiles. Finally, as for the pairing whether this will be a Click, Cluke, Clarah, Clenny, I am proud to inform you that this fic will be none of the above. The pairing is something I came up with on the fly and I am curious to see if I can make it work. As one other major detail in this AU, Clem was 13 during the events of season 1 and a special surprise character from that season will be showing up in this fic, perhaps even 2. (A/N: Clem chose to mercy kill Lee at the end of Season 1)**

**Clementine's POV**

My eyes slowly open as I begin to wake up. I can barely make out faces but I can clearly see people standing over me and it looks like they're arguing. As my ears begin to finally work again I can hear their voices more clearly.

"She said she was bit by a dog, ok?" A man's voice speaks up but is loudly drowned out by a woman's loud yelling.

"I don't buy that bullshit story for one second," the woman says.

I slowly pick myself off the ground and I'm about to speak when the second I open my mouth I hear a loud bang and my eyes widen as I'm sent flying off my feet. I hit the ground with a thud and immediately scream in pain as I clutch my now bleeding shoulder.

"NICK, WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING!?" the man in the red sweatshirt comes over to me and immediately applies pressure to my wound.

"Don't yell at me, you're the ones saying I should shoot her!" the man who was holding the gun says as he gives everyone a glare.

"We need to get her inside, or she might not make it. Carlos can patch her up," the big burly black man with glasses says as the woman who I can tell is more than thrilled to have me hear speaks up.

"The hell we do, I say we leave her out here. We have enough mouths to feed."

Before I fade back out of consciousness I feel my body being picked up and carried.

The next time I wake up I feel an ache in my shoulder and I raise myself off of the couch I was laying on. I look down as I notice it's gotten a bit drafty and realize I'm not wearing anything but a bandage wrapped around my shoulder and forearm and a bra. I look around for my shirt only to see a relatively clean looking white t-shirt and red hoodie. I also notice my cap lying on top of the other clothing. Putting on the clothes I was given, I turn as I notice a girl sitting on the stairwell looking at me. She looks about my age and something about her gives her an innocent look about her. Maybe it's the glasses.

"Uh…hey," I finally speak up.

"Hi," she says as she finally walks down the stairs and sits on the couch next to me. She keeps looking at me like I'm some sort of alien and it's kinda creepy.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I ask her finally as the awkwardness of the silence drives me to continue speaking.

"I saw when they brought you in. You were bleeding and my dad fixed you up. He's a doctor," She speaks sheepishly.

"Ok, I'm glad SOMEBODY seems to take some kind of responsibility around here," I say although it came out sounding a bit harsher than it did in my head.

"Yeah, I heard everyone was yelling about you being bitten or something. So…what happened?" she asks me.

"I got bit by a dog because it tried to take the beans I had, then …Luke and Pete, I think that's their names, came and saved me from being eaten by walkers. I passed out and as soon as I got up, that Nick guy shoots me," I say as I simulate holding my arms like I was holding a rifle.

The girl's eyes widen, whether from shock or wonder is anyone's guess.

"Wow, I can't believe Nick would do something like that. That's so mean!" she says as she gives an annoyed look.

"I'm Clementine, by the way." I finally introduce myself.

"I'm Sarah. I'm so not speaking to Nick until he apologizes," she says as she smiles to me.

"Uh, Sarah? I don't think that's necessary. I'm sure it was an accident…probably." I say as I bring myself off the couch.

"Wait a minute…that's my jacket!" Sarah says as she looks at me.

Just as she says that I hear the door open and Pete comes in.

"Well, looks like you're finally up. You're tough as nails, I'll tell you that much," he says as he puts his rifle down and comes over to me.

"Thanks…growing up out here, you kinda have to be," I say as I smile with a bit of a blush on my face.

"I'm sorry my nephew shot you. He's got a chip on his shoulder since his mom…well…you understand," he rubs the back of his head as I raise an eyebrow.

"Nick's mom got attacked by a person we let in the group after they got bit," Sarah whispers to me as my eyes widen a bit. I guess misery loves company. I should probably tell him no hard feelings later… even if he probably doesn't think he did anything wrong.

"Anyway, Sarah what are you doing out of bed this time of night," Pete said.

"Night?" I turn to the window and notice that it's really dark outside. Holy shit, how long was I out?

"Oh I…I was just going to the kitchen to get a drink of water and I noticed Clementine was up so I was making sure she was ok," Sarah said as she gave Pete the best innocent smile she could muster. Ok, either this girl is the world's best actor, or she really is as innocent as she makes out. How does someone like her, make it this long in a world as bad as this? It makes no sense.

"You know your father would blow a fuse if he found you out, past your bedtime," Pete told her.

Ok, _NOW_ it makes sense. She's what, 15… with a bedtime…with dead people walking around eating everyone they find. She's doomed if something happens to her dad.

"R-right, I'm just gonna go back to bed. Goodnight Clementine," she says as she scurries back up stairs and out of sight.

I feel my stomach growling and realize that I'm starving. I hadn't eaten in 2 or 3 days aside from a can of beans….well….almost a whole can of beans. Stupid dog…

"Hungry, eh?" Pete says, snapping me out of my thoughts and I nod giving a sigh, "Well, there's something in the kitchen for you. Luke made it for you while you were out in case you got up. You can go ahead and eat and then its lights out. You can sleep in Sarah's room and go fishing with us tomorrow if you want.

I nod as I make my way to the kitchen to see a bowl of what looks like oatmeal. I take the spoon and pick some up. It's still warm so I'm assuming Luke made this not too long ago meaning.

"Good to see you're still alive," I hear a familiar voice and turn to see Luke coming in.

I nod as I scarf down spoonfuls of oatmeal not really caring about looking the least bit lady like.

"You uhh…must've not eaten in a while, well uh…" he trails off as he sits down across from me.

"So where are your parents, if you don't mind my asking? Sorry it's just that, with everything going on and you being as young as you are, I kinda assume it's what happened to everyone's parents," he looks at me sympathetically.

"I…my parents died. They went to Savannah and left me with Sandra…and they never came back. I went to go find them, but they were already dead." I say as my memories come flashing back to me.

"I'm uh…sorry to hear that, I lost my folks too," he looks away from me and down to the table.

"This man found me and took care of me. His name was Lee, he taught me how to survive…he's the reason I keep my hair short," I feel compelled to tell Luke my story. It's somewhat comforting telling someone else what I've been through.

"Well…what happened to him," Luke asked and my face fell.

"I killed him…He got bitten trying to protect me, and I had to make sure he didn't turn," I quickly realized I was close to crying as I blinked away the tears, hiding my face behind my cap as I lowered my head.

Luke must've realized it was really painful because he changed the subject.

"So what are you gonna do now?" Luke asked as he tried to get rid of the discomfort he was undoubtedly causing me.

"I don't know…Pete said I could go fishing with him tomorrow," I admit.

"Well then I guess you're staying with us then," Luke smiled and I gave him a worried look.

"I'm not sure everyone else is gonna like that idea," I tell him knowing specifically who I mean by everyone else.

"Then they'll just have to deal with it," Luke tells me and any reason I didn't like this guy went out of the window.

Luke leaves and I go back to stuffing my face.

"Oh, you're still here," I hear that voice again.

Speak of the devil, I turn and notice the pregnant lady come in.

"Yeah, I am. Seeing as how I got shot and all," I say as my brows furrow.

"Well, you got your help and we wasted our supplies on you so I think now's a good time for you to leave," She says as she goes over to the sink.

"Actually, I was planning on sticking around for a long LOOONG time. So it looks like you and me are gonna be best friends," I say sarcastically as a smile comes across my face. Oh, I am just loving this. Truth be told I wasn't planning on staying too long but the simple fact that this lady has done nothing but act like a bitch to me, I suppose staying simply to milk the fact that she has no choice now but to deal with it is now my new goal.

She gives me a stern scowl and I squint back at her. I can tell she's contemplating putting her hands on me considering her fist is shaking. Figuring that the large baby bump is anything to go by, she's not gonna touch me. She scoffs and leaves as I mentally start mentally cheering for myself. That was just….awesome. But, I'm starting to get tired so I head out of the kitchen after finishing my food, turning out all the lights and walking upstairs.

"Sarah?" I call as I peek into the room. I walk in and close the door behind me, making my way over to the bed and I notice that she's trying a bit too hard to appear asleep. I notice the book on her nightstand still open and the lamp was still on.

"Sarah I know you aren't asleep, you still have your glasses on," I say and she opens her eyes widely. Busted. She sits up and looks at me with a relieved look on her face. Probably because I'm _not_ her dad.

"What are you reading?" I ask as I look at the book now back in her hands.

"It's a sci-fi book about lycans and vampires and stuff. You probably wouldn't like it. I started reading it a while ago but I never had the next issue. I guess whoever stayed in this cabin liked to read it. They have just about all the books!" She speaks excitedly before clasping her hands over her mouth probably realizing she was a bit loud.

"It's called Flames of The Phoenix…and get this…the main character has a girlfriend," Sarah exclaims as if it's so shocking.

"So?" I say as I shrug my shoulders. Seems pretty normal to me.

"But, the main character is a girl…I mean I never even thought about something like that. A girl liking another girl that way, my dad would freak if I did something like that," Sarah says which actually makes me giggle.

"Your dad would probably freak if you gave someone a hug for too long," I say and we both end up sharing a laugh.

"You know, we should totally be best friends," Sarah says, as she starts bouncing.

"R-right, best friends," I look at her with a cautious expression. I hope she isn't gonna stuff me like a teddy bear while I'm asleep.

She closes her book and turns out the light, putting her glasses on the nightstand.

"Better go to sleep before my dad comes to check on us," she said as she lay down on the bed.

I nod and lie down on the opposite end of the bed as she curls up under the covers.

"Night, Clem," She says as I close my eyes.

"Night Sarah," I reply noticing she's already started using my nickname. I hope tomorrow is a good day. So far things are looking up but, living out here has taught me one thing. Peace never lasts too long.

**So there's chapter one guys, what do you think? I think I chose the best place to start and I also through in nods here and there to certain parts of the game and even a bit of original work. I plan on working on this story throughout the week and I'd really appreciate feedback. Every so often I'll put up a chapter where the readers get to choose the outcome of certain events that will change the story. Please note that if you pick certain choices you could potentially take this story to a dark place so please consider the options rationally, or don't if you just wanna know what might happen. **

**Leave a review below, let me know.  
**


	2. Never Safe

**What's up guys!? I'm known as the duke, but you may call me Theseus. This is the second chapter in my first ever fanfiction. This hopefully will catch fire and spawn lots of reviews, favorites, and stuff. Thank you all so much for reading and lastly, I just would like to say enjoy!**

**Clementine's POV**

I groggily get out of bed and notice that Sarah is missing. Making my way to the door I listen out as I hear nothing but the sound of humming coming from downstairs.

I walk down the steps seeing Sarah sitting on the couch as she messes around with what looks like a half finished puzzle. She waves at me and smiles as I look around.

"Where is everyone?" I ask her having noticed the place looks deserted with everyone gone.

"Nick and Pete went to go fishing, Alvin and Luke are in the back, and Rebecca and my dad are upstairs. He's giving her a check-up, I think." She answers as she puts a piece in the puzzle.

I give her a shrug before I hear someone call my name from upstairs. I sigh, making my way towards the voice when I come into the master bedroom. The Hispanic man is standing near the bed as Rebecca sits on it.

"Clementine, can you look after Rebecca while I go downstairs. It will only be for a few minutes," he says.

"Do I have to?" I whine as I look at the woman who seems to be in a bit of discomfort at the moment. She was mean to me yesterday and now she's in pain. Karma works pretty fast nowadays.

"I won't be long, just make sure she doesn't exert herself while I go get something," he says as he walks past me and to the door, "Thank you."

I look at Rebecca and she slowly opens her eyes. She groans as she looks over at me and I frown up. "Wh-where's Carlos?" she spoke up sounding just as troubled as she looks. Being pregnant must really suck.

"He went downstairs to get something. He'll be back soon…I hope," I whisper the last part as I don't want to make this situation worse.

"So you're having a baby? Your husband must be really excited," I say as she gives me a look that I can't quite place.

"He must be looking forward to having a new baby. You must be really happy," I say and I swear to god I think I saw her lip quiver.

"He's going to be a dad." I say and with that she breaks down in soft sobs. I look at her in shock and I feel my heart sink into my stomach.

"He…IS… the dad, right?" I ask feeling a wind of courage come up through me before she looks up at me with eyes that tell the whole story.

"…..whoa. Does….does he know?" I ask and she shakes her head.

"Oh my god, I'm….sorry…I didn't realize he wasn't-" I start before she immediately corrects me.

"MIGHT not be… Listen, please don't say anything to him. I love that man, if he finds out about… it'll break his heart. I can't do that to him. He doesn't deserve that. I'm sorry about the way I acted, it's the hormones. The pregnancy is taking a lot out of me and I take it out on everyone else. I really didn't mean any of the things I said. I was only just trying to look after my family," She says as she fights the urge to cry even more.

I feel like a complete jerk for the way I acted. I actually felt…good… about telling off a pregnant lady. Even if she was mean I shouldn't have acted that way.

"It's ok. I won't tell anyone, Rebecca" I say as I smile to her.

She wipes her eyes and nods with a smile to me that looks completely genuine, "Thank you."

I turn noticing Carlos coming back with a small bottle of pills and a glass of water.

"Thank you, Clementine," he says to me, handing the water to Rebecca and giving her a few pills.

"It's cool," I nod, leaving before he asks for anything else.

I go back downstairs and see Alvin and Luke going into the kitchen. I mostly ignore them until I notice the guns in their hand and Luke starts yelling.

"You watch the girls! I'll go and get Nick and Pete," he says to Alvin who simply nods.

Sarah gets up now looking scared as Carlos comes running down the stairs with Rebecca following suit.

"What's going on?" Carlos asks looking to Luke as he's just about to leave the cabin.

"Me and Alvin were standing outside when we heard gunshots coming from near the river. That's where Nick and Pete are," Luke says as he gets ready to go.

"I'll come with you. You might need back up." Alvin insists as Luke sighs then nods.

"You're going to need more than just you two if it's Carver," Carlos says.

"Rebecca, you come along too. You can still shoot can't you?" Luke asks.

Rebecca pulls out a pistol from her back pocket and cocks it, nodding.

"I can go too," I speak up as Luke shakes his head.

"No more extra guns, plus we need someone to stay behind and watch Sarah," Luke says.

Really but the pregnant lady gets to go? How does that make any sense, "Fine, just hurry back."

Luke and the others head out, leaving me alone with Sarah. I turn to say something to her only to see that she isn't here anymore. Where'd she go?

I walk upstairs to her room only to nearly wet my pants when she stands there holding a pistol at me and saying "Bang!"

I quickly duck down as she notices my reaction and stumbles, "S-sorry,"

"That's not a toy. You can't just go aiming those at people!" I yell at her and she grimaces.

I sigh and walk over to her, "I'm sorry ok. I didn't mean to yell, it's just that last time someone pointed one of those at me I actually _DID_ get shot."

She raises her head and nods at me in understanding before picking up the pistol and aiming at the wall. "It isn't loaded."

I walk behind her and fix her posture: Straightening her elbows, holding the gun forward, making sure the little notch at the top it aligned with her eyes and…perfect.

"You've done it before?" she asks me and I give her a confused expression.

"Done what?" I ask before I almost instantly understand what she was asking.

"Shot someone," she says as she puts the gun in her pocket.

Memories of Lee instantly swarm my head and that decision that will haunt me for the rest of my life. I should've never believed that stranger. Lee's gone, my parents gone, my friends gone, Sandra gone, my old life gone. I'll never be the same girl who I was two years ago because of that moment.

"Yes," I say softly and she looks at me with what I guess is sympathy with how pathetic I just sounded.

"Why?" she asks and I almost wanna sink into a hole in the ground.

"To protect myself. To survive. To make sure that Lee didn't die in vain." I say and Sarah sits down on the bed.

"Who's Lee?" she asks and so for the next few minutes or so I basically tell her my whole story from when my dad gave me his baseball cap all the way to when Christa and I got separated in the woods by the bandits.

Time went by so fast I hardly realized how long everyone was gone until I heard the front door open and Sarah and I run downstairs expecting to see everyone coming in. Only to collide face first with someone's big fur coat.

"C-Carver!" Sarah exclaims as her eyes widen in fear.

"You girls look lost. Perhaps me and my friends can help you find who you're looking for," The grizly voiced man says with a smile as he steps aside to reveal the 3 men and a woman standing behind him. The first was a scrawny looking guy in cargo pants and a camo jacket. The other was a large white guy with a beard, and finally an Asian looking male with a red shirt and black slacks. The redhaired woman looks at us with pity before we're escorted out of the cabin at gunpoint, tied up, and forced to march down the hill as the Carver guy gets on his walkie talkie.

"We have the girls. Vince, Troy, Wyatt, and Bonnie caught the others near the river. We put down Pete, fool had gotten himself bitten. Still no sign of Luke but once we get the others back I'll have Bonnie and Troy go scouting for him. There's no way that he's gotten too far on foot," he speaks into the talkie as the information sinks in. Everyone's caught, Pete's dead, and on top of that Luke's missing.

The two of us are corralled to a truck where they open the back and shove us roughly inside.

"Hey!" Carlos yells.

"Shut the fuck up, doc," the skinny redneck sounding guy speaks as he closes the door and we're soon being moved.

I look to Rebecca who looks crestfallen and Alvin who can only glare at the floor. Carlos meanwhile is busy trying to comfort Sarah as she cries softly. The only person who seems calm is…Nick. In fact, he's…smirking.

"What're you smirking about?" I ask him.

"You don't get it do you," he says as he looks directly at me.

"Get what?" I ask although I'm afraid of what the answer is, undoubtedly.

"We're screwed," he smiles as he gets this look in his eyes as if he's walking right into Hell and jumping willingly into the flames.

**Wow, Carver works fast. Kinda scared for Clem here now. And just where is Luke? Let me know what you think of the story so far. Enjoying it. I hope so.**

**Leave a review below, Let me know. **

**And I'll see you guys next time!**


	3. Walls To Thin

**What's up guys, and welcome back to Together We Fall. I'm really enjoying writing this story and I hope you guys are enjoying the ride so far. Things seem might seem to hit the brakes at moments before pumping the gas full speed. 0 to 100 real quick! lolz :D Anywho if you looked at the Characters section of the story you'll probably notice that Shel and Becca's names are there. Yes, they'll be playing a central part in this story since they were my favorite characters from 400 days. Not that I won't have the others here. Let's just see where the story goes and I'll see you guys at the end of the chapter.**

**Clementine's POV**

The truck bounces lightly causing my body to shift every time it decides to hop off the ground for a split second. I look around at everyone else and notice they aren't faring any better. I turn to Nick who's positioned across from me and notice how he's glaring into space with a distant expression. He seems really out of it since Pete got killed. I hope he's ok but I remember the last person I knew who acted like this as my mind instantly goes to think of the redneck fisherman from all those years ago. I remember he didn't exactly get better after Katjaa and Duck…still he went to go save Ben even though Ben got them killed technically so I guess he wasn't all bad. Just a bit on the rough side, but he and Lilly really used to fight back in the motor inn. Like two trains set on a collision course, thank god Lee was there. I wonder what ever happened to Lilly ever since she stole our RV…probably off in Texas somewhere…or Mexico, who knows.

I really miss my old group, now more than ever. I can't help but think that those were easier times then, mostly because all I had to do back then was do what Lee told me and try not to do anything dumb. Tch, look how well that turned out. The one time I decide to take matters into my own hands I single-handedly kill half the people in our group, including the man responsible for my survival in the first place.

Looking back, I realize that maybe if I had made smarter decisions a lot of people wouldn't have died because of me. If I hadn't left with the stranger, Lee would've never gotten bit. If I hadn't left my gun on the sink to go get that water bottle, Omid would've never died. If I hadn't fallen asleep while Christa was getting food then I'd have stopped that walker from eating…

**BOOM **

My eyes snap wide open as the truck bounces harder and keeps moving. I can hear a muffled "_Goddamn it!"_ coming from the front and I assume the truck either hit a walker or a really big rock. I look to Rebecca who looks back at me and I can't help but have that nagging question rise up my throat as my heart jumps up along with it. "Are… are they going to kill us?" I ask her as I look concernedly at her.

I expect her to not have an answer probably because we're in the same predicament of uncertainty. "No, he won't kill us. He wouldn't have bothered to put us all in the truck if he just wanted to shoot us. Besides, he wants something and he can't have it if we're dead," Rebecca says with what I can't help but place as either defiance or bravery in her tone.

"What's that?" I ask as I look at her with confusion etched onto my face.

"To bring us back," Carlos adds in as he goes back to keeping an eye on his daughter. Poor girl's shaking from crying so much. I really feel bad for her. It's then that a question comes into my mind as the pieces of this puzzle start coming into place.

"You mean you were there before?" I ask noticing that Carlos sighs at hearing my question but reluctantly answers anyway.

"We were a part of his community, yes. Since then we've had differences and we escaped. He's been trying to bring us back for a long time and now we've been captured. He'll likely have us under lock and key so escaping again may be useless," Carlos explains.

"You know, Luke's still out there. He'll help us get out. You'll see," I say only hoping that I'm right because if he's abandoned us then he won't hear the end of it if I ever see him again.

"He may not-" Carlos starts until he's immediately interrupted by a louder voice.

"He IS gonna help us! I KNOW Luke; he'll be there before you know it," Nick says as he looks at Carlos, squinting his eyes.

Carlos looks down into his lap realizing that arguing is pointless, "I hope you're right."

The ride becomes a lot smoother from here as I feel the truck hit what feel like speed bumps.

"We're close," Carlos says as I brace myself mentally for what could possibly be a slave encampment for all I know. Suddenly the doors open and a big dark woman gets us moving out of the truck and down the halls of the hardware store.

I look ahead and can hear Carver over the loud speakers as well as see him from the windows of the area he's in. Looking around as we're marched through the halls like prisoners on their way to execution, I notice there's A LOT of food here. I see bags and cans of all sorts of things and I see people walking back and forth with guns, guards more than likely. I also notice that there are people taking large bags of stuff to different rooms and I feel like there's a question that really needs to be asked. _Why would anyone want to leave, here?_

As we get to the gated area outside which the large lady refers to as "The Pen," we're greeted by a man with one arm who immediately begins talking to the others.

"Who's he?" I ask to Sarah who's standing next to me. She turns to me then back to face the Indian man. "That's Reggie. He was with us when we escaped the first time. At least he was supposed to be, but he fell and we all kept running," Sarah says as I notice he's now coming towards me.

"Who're you?" he asks with a thick accent and I can't help but look at his missing arm. I didn't realize until he spoke that I had been staring at it. "This freaks you out, I know."

"That's Clementine, she was with us when we got caught," Rebecca explains as he extends his arm.

"It's…nice to meet you," I say as I shake his hand with a smile.

"It's nice to meet you too, Clementine," He says as he turns back to the others.

I turn around as I notice the large shutters open just as the redneck guy comes back from earlier and points to Carlos then to Alvin.

"Carlos, we got some folks we need you to look at. And Alvin, Bill wants to see you in his office," he says as he looks between the two as Rebecca and Sarah start to protest.

"Just come the fuck on or I'll let Bill know that the lot of you decided to be…uncooperative," He says as he gives the faintest hint of a smile.

Carlos reluctantly agrees and follows as Alvin is about to walk out, Rebecca grabs his arm.

"It's ok, Bec. I'm going to be fine," he says with a smile as she lets him go with a very terrified look on her face.

"I…I have to pee," I say as the guy turns to me and turns his nose up.

"Can't it wait?" he asks as he looks like he's really not in the mood.

"No…I can't hold it," I say as I start doing the pee-pee dance hoping to look as convincing as possible.

"Troy just let her go to the bathroom," A voice says as I turn to see a large dark guy in a white hoodie.

Troy sighs and finally concedes, "Fine, but you better go STRAIGHT to the bathroom and STRAIGHT back to this gate. If you aren't standing here in the next 10 minutes then you'll wish you did."

I mentally smirk as I walk out of the gate past Troy and the others and walk towards the area where I assume the bathroom is.

I keep walking as I look back to make sure I'm out of Troy's sight and I go straight towards the staircase. Being careful not to be seen I walk up the stairs to the office where I can hear two voices. I peer inside from the crack in the door as I notice Alvin sitting in a chair off to the side and Carver berating him as he swings his fists striking the man with blow after blow. He walks away from Alvin and towards his desk where he picks up a small gun from the inside of his dresser and Alvin looks at him and chuckles.

"So, you're just gonna kill me now? You're a real big man when my arms are tied up, huh?" Alvin says as Carver walks to him and whacks him across the head with the handle.

"I think you've got this all wrong Alvin. See, you killed one of my people and the way I see it, you have to pay for what you did. I'd have killed you before if that was my intention but you see; I need you alive. How would Rebecca feel if she knew you were dead? She'd try to leave again. I keep you alive and well, she won't go anywhere. However I think you need to understand just who's in charge around here," Carver says as he pulls the locking mechanism on the pistol and points the barrel at Alvin who seems to have lost consciousness by now.

"NO! STOP!" I yell as I burst into the room shocking Carver with my presence.

"You seem to be lost missy," he says as he approaches me.

"You're beating him while he's defenseless and then you pulled a gun on him. How low can you get?" I say as he approaches me. Alvin's such a cool guy, there's no reason to treat him like this.

"I don't think you're in any position to ask me anything. You're a new member of this community so I'll let you off with this warning. You didn't see anything, you didn't hear anything. I can make your stay here a long and peaceful one, or a short and painful one. Don't test me girl," he says as I look at Alvin's beaten form then back to his attacker.

"You don't scare me, Carver. I see what you're really like and I'm gonna tell everyone else exactly what you did," I say with a boldness I didn't know I had inside me. I guess being with Kenny for so long would have that effect on me.

Carver smiles at me and places a hand on my shoulder. He stares at me for a little while before he actually begins laughing.

"What's your name, darling?" he asks as he walks me over to his desk.

"Clementine," I say as I start to feel a bit weird. How does a guy go from just beating the snot out of someone to making small talk?

"Well, Clementine, I think I misjudged you. You have more balls than anyone in that dog shit group of yours. How about I make you a deal?" he says as he puts his hands on his desk and sits down.

"How about no?" I say as he looks like he's about to keel over from laughter.

"I think you're gonna like this deal, Clementine," he says, "I'll leave your group alone. No harsh treatment or punishment for their little escape attempt and I'll even make sure they get fed before everyone else. All you have to do is forget what you saw here and make sure that they're…comfortable."

"And if I say no?" I ask although I know I'm not gonna like the answer.

"If you refuse, then I put a bullet in him and you," he says as he points to Alvin then to me.

"Wont someone hear the gun shots? They'll come in and see Alvin tied up and know you killed us."

"They will, will they? Or maybe I could do this," he turns and presses a button causing his loudspeaker to turn on, "Disregard all gunfire coming from within the community, Lurkers have been spotted on the premises and are being taken care of, lights out in 20 minutes."

Carver turns back to me as my jaw almost hits the floor. I was stumped. There was literally no way out of this situation was there?

"I'll know if you say anything to anyone and if you do then rest assured I'll put Alvin here out of his misery and then you'll be dealt with soon after," he says as he grins mischievously.

It's only now that I realize that not only has he trapped Rebecca by keeping Alvin here, he's trapped me now from being able to even say anything about it. With everyone out in the pen I'm basically…alone on this.

"A…alright….you have a deal," I say as he nods and shakes my hand.

"I'm glad we could have this conversation," he says as he escorts me past Alvin's unconscious body and down the stairs towards the pen area where Troy is standing and turns my way.

"What the fuck? I thought you were going to the bathroom you little-" Troy starts as Carver puts his hand up and points to me.

"She got lost after doing her business and I was escorting her back to the pen, isn't that right Clementine?" Carver says as I hesitantly nod.

Troy opens the door and I'm brought back out to the pen as the shutter closes behind me.

"Alright yall get the fuck to sleep. If I catch anyone up you're not gonna like what happens." Troy's voice calls as he leaves with Carver.

I look at Rebecca and she looks absolutely distraught. I bite my lip and walk past her and everyone else as everyone heads towards the beds. Try as I might only one thought crosses my mind as I start to close my eyes. I really hope Luke is coming, soon.

**Wow, Carver's good…really good. How will Clem fare on this new playing field with a man this cunning? What do you think?**

**Leave a review below, Let me know!**

**And I'll see you guys next time.**


	4. Kindred Spirits

**Welcome back guys to Together We Fall. I'm now looking for someone who can possibly make some cover art for this story and I'm noticing that it's slowly starting to gain a fan base. Thanks to all who've favorited the story and left reviews. Next chapter will have a choice ending where you, the readers, get to vote on what happens next. Anyway, if you're interested in doing cover art for this story then PM me and I'll be sure to respond as soon as possible. Now on with the story!**

**Clementine's POV**

I wake up to the feeling of something being shoved into my side repeatedly. I open my eyes to see Troy standing over me, wielding a rifle of course. I grunt and turn over not wanting to be woken up. That's when I feel a sharp pain in my back and I open my eyes widely as bite my lip to keep from crying out. _The bastard kicked me, _I think to myself as I stand and muster up the best glare I could. He looks like he could care less and ushers me over to where the others are.

Carver, with a shit eating grin on his face, comes into view as he goes on and on about something that I can barely hear due to Sarah chatting my ear off, next to me.

"Sarah, can we talk later? I'd rather not right now," I say calmly as to not sound angry at her, but it's true. I really don't want to talk to her right now after what happened last night. I just want to figure out just how I'm going to get us out of this mess.

"I'm just glad that-" Sarah starts but a large gravely shout from Carver shocks us both.

"CARLOS!" The fur coated man walks up, "Your daughter is in need of discipline."

"Yes…apologize to Mr. Carver," Carlos says as I just realize he must've been brought back here sometime during the early morning.

"No-no that's not good enough," Carver says as he looks to Sarah and then cuts his eyes to me as if he just got a brilliant idea. I know for a fact this won't end well.

"What would you have me do?" Carlos says as he's probably just as fearful as I am right now.

Carver comes over to me and grabs my arm before shoving me over to Carlos, "She needs an example. She needs to see what could happen to her when she disrespects adults. Clementine here, is going to be that example."

My eyes widen as I look between Carlos and Carver as I realize that I'm now directly in the line of fire. "I want you to give her a good slap across the face. And not some namby-pamby thing either. A good hard smack! Or else I'll get Troy here to show your daughter first-hand,"

I look up at Carlos before nodding silently as he sighs, "I'm sorry…"

**SMACK!**

I'm nearly sent off my feet as I stumble back from the slap. My cheek now bright red and now I feel just about thoroughly embarrassed. I can't believe he hit me THAT hard. I know it isn't his fault but Carver didn't have to make him hit me. I look at Sarah as she locks eyes with me before she looks to the ground in guilt while rubbing her shoulder.

"Now, let that be a lesson to you Sarah, don't talk while I'm talking again. Is that understood?" Carver asks Sarah who glances back up.

"Y…yes sir," she chokes out fearfully before everyone is ushered away to do their jobs. The large dark woman comes out and brings me inside. I look around the hardware store as I rub my cheek before realizing that she's brought over another girl about my age. She has light skin and dark brown hair, a yellow jacket along with a light blue t-shirt underneath. "You two are on ammo detail, Bonnie will be supervising you."

As we get inside I notice that they have enough ammo here to overtake a city. How are these people so well stocked?! I notice the red haired woman as one of the people who had brought us here. She was smiling as she ushered us to sit down.

"It's good to see you finally making friends Becca," Bonnie says to the girl next to me as she gives a shrug.

"I don't know her, Tavia brought her here. 'Least she's not a cry baby like Sarah," She says in a mean tone.

"Hey, Sarah's not THAT bad," I say now a bit offended that she's bad mouthing my 'best friend'.

"Oh yeah, Well just wait, you say one thing about her and then the waterworks start," She says as she rolls her eyes.

"She's had a rough time, Becca. I'm sure if you opened up to her a little, you'd come around," Bonnie stated as she began demonstrating how to put the bullets into the magazine.

Becca looks up at her then sighs, "I've seen what happens to her friends, no thanks."

I look over at Becca who looks back at me, giving clear indication she saw what happened in the pen this morning.

"It wasn't her fault; Carver just blew up because she was talking. He's crazy!" I say as Bonnie pipes in.

"He's not crazy; he's just…stressed is all. Being the leader of a group this size would have an effect on anyone. Besides, he hasn't done anything before so bad that we have any reason to think he's as bad as you say," Bonnie says in her infinite wisdom as me and Becca exchange looks.

"What are you dating him now or something?" Becca asks which earns a chuckle from me, "Oh he's so amazing, he's such a great leader and he's not bad at all," she mocks Bonnie's accent and we both start laughing causing the now reddened face woman to go back to loading the bullets.

"Oh, hush. Both of you," Bonnie says, "You don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm serious, he really is crazy and I'm going to prove it. I'll get you all to see what he's really like one way or another," I say in a now serious tone as Becca raises an eyebrow at me.

"You're starting to sound like my sister. All 'he's hiding something' and 'something about him doesn't seem right'. You two should hang out and talk about conspiracy theories," She mocks loading more bullets into the magazine.

That's when the walkie talkie near Bonnie goes off, "Bonnie, is that Clementine girl still with you?"

"Yep," Bonnie replies as Becca and I both recognize Tavia's voice on the device.

"I'm bringing her up to the roof. She's gonna be working with Reggie," She says as the voice fades.

"Well city mouse, I suppose that's the end of our little play time. I was having fun with you," Bonnie says as she thinks for a moment before going to the box in the corner and pulling out a black leather jacket. _Now THAT'S a cool jacket!_

"Here, I found this a while ago and it's about your size. It gets cold out in the pen so this should help at least a little bit," she says as she hands me the jacket and I put it on over my hoodie. Fits like a glove.

I look at Becca who gives me a thumbs up and I smile, before she turns it into a thumbs down and I roll my eyes. "I'm just messing with you. It's a cool jacket."

I smile as Tavia comes in and looks at me, "What's with the jacket?"

"Tavia," Bonnie looks at her although Tavia completely no sells her expression.

"Oh right, I'm taking Becca too. She's gonna be working up there with Clementine and Reggie,"

"Alright then," Bonnie says as Tavia guides us out of the room. We walk up to the roof where there's a greenhouse up. Seriously, what do they NOT have? Becca sighs once we're inside and we see Sarah standing there.

"Come on, might as well start getting along now," I say as Tavia waits outside for Reggie to come up while I walk over towards Sarah.

"Fine, I'll get along with her…..but I won't like it," Becca says as she comes over to where Sarah and I are standing. I'm only hoping that this ends really well for all of us, or that it at least doesn't end badly for me.

**Well well well, it seems Becca isn't a one dimensional character after all. This certainly is sure going to be an interesting trio if do say so myself. And still no Luke, guess he's really taking the scenic route. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed the chapter!**

**Leave a review below, let me know!**

**And I'll see you all next time!**


	5. Too Close To Home

**How's it going guys? I'm really thankful for you all, you're really helping me out. Just a quick announcement. I'm going to start doing multiple perspectives this chapter and it will continue for the remainder of the fic so expect the chapters to double or triple in size with the introductions of B and C plots as well as the A plot of the story surrounding Clementine trying to survive the wrath of William Carver. He's such a fun character to right in my opinion. Also as I said before, this chapter will have a choice at the ending so make sure you pick your choice wisely or else something bad could happen. But, I won't make it as clear cut as you think so be wary with your decision. Anyway, on with the chapter.**

**Clementine's POV**

I'm walking over to Sarah with Becca behind me and before I can even get a word out, she's in front of me practically begging my forgiveness. "Clem, I'm so, so, so sorry my dad hit you. I swear I didn't mean for that to happen. Please don't be mad at me. I'm really, really sorry!" she shocks me with just how bad she feels about what happened. I expected her to feel guilty but I didn't know she'd be this bad. She begins breathing rather irately and I place a hand on her shoulder.

"Sarah, calm down. I know you didn't mean for that to happen. I understand, ok?" I try to get her to calm down before she has a panic attack or something. What did she think, I was gonna hate her?

My efforts seem to do some good as she nods and her breathing calms down. She looks at me timidly before turning her head to look at the floor. "We're still friends, right?" she asks and I can just imagine that at this time she must really be bothered by what happened and figured I wouldn't want to be her friend any more.

"Yes we're still friends," I say and Sarah hugs me before gasping and backing up.

I turn and just remember that Becca's behind me and she's giving Sarah the stink eye. I give her a look and in response she rolls her eyes and turns to face away from us. This little "alliance" is going to need some work or else I'm going to have trouble having these two near each other.

"Sarah, she isn't going to be mean to you anymore. Right, Becca?" I ask as I emphasize the last part and Becca turns back to me. She looks between the two of us and sighs.

"I'm…sorry for calling you a crybaby," Becca says, completely ignoring the question I just asked.

Sarah seems to buy it though, so I can't really complain. As she walks up to Becca, albeit slowly, and offers a handshake as a sign of a "truce".

Becca looks at her hand then back at me as I nod. She reaches out and takes Sarah's hand, although she's practically grinding her teeth while she does it.

"We're all friends now," Sarah says as she smiles. She's right and wrong at the same time. Yes, we're friends in a sense that we can get along…mostly but, with the way Becca is, it's going to take a while before she starts considering either of us her friend.

The door opens and we look to see the one armed, Reggie come in just as Tavia stands behind him. "Don't mess this up," She practically commands him as he turns around with an annoyed tone.

"I know," He replies as she leaves and Reggie turns to us. He looks between the three of us and smiles, "Ok, girls. Today we're going to be picking berries. You just put the berries in the basket and the dead leaves go in a pile, simple right? Let's get started."

We all go to our areas and begin doing the work but I notice Sarah isn't moving. "Is she gonna be alright?" Reggie asks me and I'm about to answer when we're both shocked as Becca walks over to Sarah and begins…helping her.

Reggie and I look at each other before shrugging as we go back to our work and Becca goes back to hers after showing Sarah what to do. After some time passes we all are doing a relatively good job when Reggie turns around. "Bill is coming."

Carver walks in and looks around at all of us before smiling, "Not bad, not bad. Looks like you can be somewhat competent after all Reggie. I'm proud of you. Now I'm just going to have to ask you to do one thing for me."

Sarah, Becca, and I are looking on and I notice Reggie becoming apprehensive. "Wh-what's that, Bill?" Reggie asks the leader of the hardware store.

"Well, one of our walls came down on the back end and we need someone to go patch it up. The only problem is that you can't get to it from the inside because of the gate so you'll need to go repair it from outside." Carver states as he gestures to the one armed Indian man.

"Bill that's crazy, I can't go out there. I mean, I only have one arm and I'd need to hold it up and uh with my arm I just can't," Reggie starts rambling.

"Shut up, shut up, shut the fuck up. Reggie…I gave you an order. Are you…telling me you aren't gonna do what I told you to do?" Carver says as he starts approaching Reggie, who in turn begins backing up and moving away from Carver and out of the greenhouse.

The three of us follow behind slowly as we watch wide eyed at the scene playing out in front of us. "No Bill I'm just saying that I can't do it with…Bill NO! I can't…I Ahhh!" Reggie screams as he's thrown over the edge of the roof and the three of us rush to the edge just in time to see his body lying lifeless on the ground. "Let that be a lesson to you three, I have intolerance for disobedience. Now go, Bonnie has some tacks she needs you to deliver to the guys downstairs," He speaks to us before instructing me to do more work. I now know why adults hate going to work. I scurry away as Becca and Sarah are left with Carver on the roof, I don't even look back.

**Becca's POV**

What did I just see? Did he really just push him off the roof? Why am I still here? I know when a situation isn't worth sticking around for. I grab Sarah's hand and bring her with me as I leave the roof. "Where are you taking me," she asks.

"Shut up. I'm choosing to get out of there and I couldn't just leave you up there with him since you're too stupid to leave on your own," I say although it came out harsher than I wanted it to.

"Well you don't have to be so mean," She says to me and I can notice the hint of anger in her voice. So she DOES have backbone inside her somewhere after all. I let go of her hand and she looks at me then towards the stairwell. "So…what now?" she asks me and I know she means where do we go from here. "You should go back to the pen. Your people are probably there waiting for you. I'm going to go find my sister."

"Oh ok, that's a good plan," she says as she starts walking back to the pen.

I go to the isles where the food is kept and find Shel taking inventory. "There you are," she says to me as she walks over, "Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you."

"Tavia had me doing some stuff for her…" I say as I start trailing off and I'm pretty sure she notices the look on my face.

"What's wrong Becca?" Shel asks me as she puts down her clipboard. I'm not sure if I should tell her this or not because if she does something and gets hurt, it'll be my fault. I can't just keep it to myself. Someone's gotta know…maybe Vince'll know what to do.

"Becca!" my sister yells as she brings me out of my thoughts and back to the situation at hand. I can't tell her. It's just too dangerous. She'll just end up doing something and we'll both end up getting kicked out of the camp or worst. We're safe here…at least for now.

"Nothing's wrong," I say as I fake a smile and shrug my shoulders, "Just thinking about uhhh…somebody."

"Really? Who?" she asks and my mind is now working overtime to come up with a believable lie.

"Bonnie, she's been talking about Carver like she's dating him or something, me and Clem were loading mags with her," I say as I rub the back of my head.

"Clem?" Shel looks at me with a confused expression as she's probably unaware of who she is. Come to think of it why am I calling her Clem all of a sudden, I don't give out nicknames. I guess it's a lot easier than Clementine so I guess I don't have a problem with it.

"Clementine, she's the girl that got caught with Rebecca's group and brought back here. She's actually kinda cool. A little too nice though, but she kinda reminds me of you a little bit," I say as I'm trying to make my lie more believable by loading it with random facts.

"Oh, well I'm glad you have a new friend," Shel hugs me as she turns and picks up her clipboard. She seems to be off my case for now and that's just what I wanted. Now the sooner I can find Vince, the sooner I can find out what to do.

"Oh, one other thing," Shel says as I look up at her, "Have you been smoking pot?"

I look up at her wide eyed. Uh oh…busted. "No…where would you even get that idea."

Shel reaches into her pocket and pulled out a small joint, placing it in front of me, "Wyatt said that his _stash_ had been compromised and the only other people who knows where it is, is us. I don't smoke so that leaves just one other suspect. THIS was found hidden under your pillow."

Dammit, I knew I should've tossed it. I look up at her and sigh. "I MAY have…done it," I say and she flips.

"Becca! Two things, you know smoking isn't allowed inside the building and you shouldn't be smoking at all. I understand you're going through this rebellious teenager phase but its not worth us getting put in the pen for or maybe worse," She looks around to make sure no one can hear us.

"Bill's losing it," she says and I immediately groan.

"This again? I keep telling you there's nothing wrong. You're just being paranoid. Ever since we left the diner you've been going on about how certain people shouldn't be in charge and how leadership is something that can't be given to people obsessed with power and blah, blah, blah. Will you just relax, ok? We're never hungry, we have a place to sleep, and all we have to do is keep the place running. You can't get any better than this. What, are we gonna take our RV and drive off again?" I say to her hopefully to get her to see it my way but all she does is sigh and shake her head. So much for that option.

"Becca…sooner or later you're going to have to start looking at more than just right now. You're going to have to start thinking about the future. I might not always be here to protect you and you're going to have to start making decisions and judging people and you're going to need to be able to tell the people you can trust from the people you can't," she says to me and I lose it.

"What do you think I've been doing? You think I don't know what's going on? I just saw a guy get MURDERED and you're only telling me stuff I already know!" I say before I immediately place my hands over my mouth and look at her as her face completely changes.

"You saw a guy get murdered?" Shel squints as she steps closer to me and I sigh, me and my big mouth.

"Reggie, Carver asked him to do something and he said he couldn't and he just…pushed him off of the roof," I say to Shel and her face noticeably saddens.

"Oh my god…Are you sure that's what happened?" she gets down to my level and places a hand on my shoulder.

I nod to her and she looks at me for a while before placing her other hand on the opposite shoulder. "You are not to tell this to anyone, do you hear me? Noone can know about this," she says.

"Why, not?" I ask though I know she isn't going to tell me.

"Becca, for your safety, you can't…tell…anyone," Shel tells me and I finally nod and agree to her.

"I'm going to go find Vince," I say as I run off, not leaving her any time to tell me not to. I know she doesn't want me telling anyone, but I don't know what she's going to do. If she's going to do what I think she's going to do then I need to hurry.

**Luke's POV**

Ok this did not go as planned. I had Clem go get a walkie talkie for me but then my stomach started growling. What was I gonna do, starve all night? I went to go grab something to eat and I get blindsided by Terrence, one of the guards in Bill's pocket, and brought out into the pen to be met by my most favorite guy in the world, William Carver.

"Hey Bill. Long time, no see," I say cheekily earning a punch in the face from the camp's leader.

Our whole group is being corralled around me. I'm looking at everyone who seems a bit shocked to see me. I notice Clem isn't here yet, good, that mean's I just have to keep him busy a bit. He may kill me but, as long as I keep him focused on me, he won't be focused on her.

"I like what you've done with the place. Really homely out here," I say and Bill looks down at me.

"I'm sure you won't be saying that in a little while. You're going to be having a really bad day starting now," Bill says as he circles me and goes to meet the rest of the group.

"Luke here, he can't save you. Whatever you were planning is over. You're going to have to help me find the strength to forgive you. Now you can start, by telling me where the other radio is," Bill says holding up a radio.

Everyone is looking around in shock as I look up at the man. Some tough guy, has to threaten me to get them to rat one of themselves out. I look over and notice that Clem's just walking over and she and I lock eyes and the eye contact tells the whole story.

"You have till the count of three to have that radio in my hand or else things are going to get real unpleasant for your friend," Carver says as Terrence stands between me and the group as Troy walks over to join the mini posse.

"1….2…." Carver starts counting.

"BILL!" a voice comes from inside the hardware store and soon after a woman I immediately recognize as Shel comes out and she doesn't look happy.

**Becca's POV**

"Are you sure that's what you saw?" the Asian man asks me as I groan. Why does everyone keep asking me if I believe what I saw. I was right there, you'd think they would believe the word of a 15 year old when she says she saw someone get killed.

"YES, for the 3rd time, Vince. Geez," I say as he looks over to the window.

"I…I can't believe him. Who the fuck does he think he is? That he can just kill someone and get away with it," he says and I raise an eyebrow and cross my arms.

"Yeah…who would do such a thing," I say sarcastically as he takes note that I'm pointing out his hypocrisy.

"Hey, when I did it, I was protecting my little brother. He did it just because he could. That's not cool. Somebody's gotta do something or it could get worse," He says as I look up at him with a confused expression.

"What are you saying?" I ask and he looks up at me sternly.

"Shel and I've been talking about it for a little while. Bill's not fit to lead this camp anymore. He's too much of a dictator. We're gonna have to take the camp over," He says to me and I look at him wide eyed.

"What are you crazy?! Take over the camp, how are you going to do something like that! You're going to get yourself AND my sister killed!" I say before I notice some loud yelling coming from the pen. That sounds like…Shel's voice. Without hesitation, I run down the stairs and out to where the pen is, hoping that something bad isn't happening.

"Did you kill, Reggie?" Shel asks the camp leader who everyone's staring at in shock except me, Clem, and Sarah. We've seen him do it.

"Yes, I did." He says in a calm matter-of-fact tone as the occupants of the pen begin to raise their voices.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" says Nick, Carlos simply shakes his head in disgust at the man, and Rebecca is practically screaming for him to tell her where Alvin is. This is really starting to look bad.

Shel is about to approach Carver with her fist balled up and it looks like she's going to hit him but Terrence blocks her path holding up his rifle.

"This has gone on long enough, someone better start telling me where the other radio is or else I'm just going to end Luke's miserable existence here and now. 1, 2," he starts counting as Troy aims his rifle at Luke.

"I HAVE IT!" a scream echoes through the pen as everyone stares in silence as Clementine walks forward and places the radio in his hand.

"We had a deal, right?" She speaks to him and he smiles. Deal, what deal? However, Carver says something that shocks all of us.

"I said I wouldn't put a hand on anyone in your group for their _FIRST_ little escape attempt. I never said anything about this one," Carver says as Clementine seems to get angered by this.

"You asshole," She says to him and before I know it, he strikes her with the walkie talkie and she goes tumbling to the ground. Carver wasn't done there, as he starts laying in shot after shot with the walkie talkie right in her face causing blood to go splashing onto the ground underneath her as well as onto the bottom of the walkie talkie itself, which becomes increasingly more jagged every time he uses it to bash her face.

Everyone's staring in shock but isn't moving because they're afraid of what could happen to them. I turn and watch in horror as Shel is desperately fighting with Terrance over the rifle he keeps trying to point at her. No one's doing anything and she's fighting a losing battle. It looks like it's all up to me. I could go try to help Clem but then my sister could die and I won't be able to live with myself if I let that happen. I could go help Shel but that'd leave Clementine at Carver's mercy and he could possibly permanently injure her if not kill her and as much as I hate to say it, I may have to help her. I look back and forth between the two knowing that I can only do one. I take a deep breath as I make my decision.

**(Help Shel)**

**(Help Clementine)**

**Well guys leave your votes in the review section and if you like this story be sure to favorite and follow. I'm interested to see the choices you all pick and I'll see you guys on the next one. There is no right or wrong decision but the decision will weigh heavily on the progression of this story.**

**Leave a review below, Let me know!**

**And I'll see you guys next time.**


	6. 2 For The Price Of 1

**Hey, how's it going guys? Wow this chapter has been a long time coming. Sorry for the wait, I came down with the flu and my sinuses did no favors. Then I got better and well I kinda got side tracked coughxenoversecough. BUUUT I'm back now and hopefully the chapter was worth the wait. I wanna shout out AquaQuadrant, the creator of one of my favorite fics ever: Stump. (If you haven't read it, do check it out as they're redoing the entire thing. First chapter's already up.) That was the first Walking Dead Fanfiction I liked and followed and it kept me coming back to the site as before I knew it tons of other awesome writers had stories up that really got the wheels turning for this fic, but I digress. Hope you all enjoy this chapter and I'm just gonna put this up here. WARNING: THIS CHAPTER IS RATED M AND WILL CONTAIN SCENES OF A SOMEWHAT GRAPHIC NATURE, VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED ALL OVER THIS CHAPTER. ENJOY! :)**

**(HELP CLEMENTINE)**

**Becca's POV**

I'm looking between my sister fighting with Terrance over his rifle and Clementine being beaten to a pulp by none other than William Carver. I know that I can't help them both but Shel can take care of herself. Clementine can't even defend herself right now, more than likely due to the fact that she's passed out mid beating from the looks of it. At least I hope she is just unconscious and not dead, she's like one of the few cool people here. I guess I'm gonna have to do this. God please protect Shel… she's all I've got, but I need to help Clem.

I rush over towards Carver and notice Troy off to the side getting ready to clock me with his rifle. "Nice try," I think as I swiftly duck the incoming strike and he curses at my movements. I keep running full speed and jump onto Carver's back, my arms vice gripping his neck and my legs locking around his waist. He tries to shake me off but my grip won't allow him to toss me. As his attention is now turned to me and not Clementine, who at this point has been picked up by Nick of all people and carried off to safety, I now pale as I realize that now I've stepped into the fire and there's no one to help me.

I hold my grip on Carver as if my life depends on it, because it actually does now, and it's at this point that Carver's got Troy trying to pull me off. I'm holding on tightly as my grip is starting to wither and it's at this point that I see Shel is now losing her struggle with Terrance. He fights her to the ground and aims his rifle at her face as my eyes widen in horror. All of a sudden, someone comes sprinting through the crowd of people and tackles Terrance as they both go tumbling to the ground. I look to Shel's savior only to realize that it's Vince, who must've followed me down here. Vince and Terrance are locked in a struggle and between the two of us it looks like we're both gonna die out here. Terrance sends a hard shot to Vince's face and it's enough to stun him and the guard goes for his rifle. Vince seeing the action manages to roll to the side just as the man clicks the trigger.

"You son of a bitch!"

**BANG!**

Everyone stops moving as we're all too shocked to do or say anything. Carver, Troy, and I are motionless and wide eyed at Terrance for firing his rifle here but more so that he was threatening to kill Shel and actually TRIED to kill Vince. The shell drops to the ground at what seems like slow motion and we're all looking at the smoking barrel as we hear Sarah scream in horror.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Sarah yells out as she covers her eyes and is immediately pulled by her father who beckons her not to look and shields her. Luke covers his mouth and stares wide eyed as Nick looks so pale he's about to fade away.

I look around not realizing why everyone is so shocked because my view is blocked by the crowd of people. I get down off of Carver's back, who I swear is starting to shake as I begin peering around the people to see what happened. What I see shakes me to my core and I don't think I can ever truly un-see this.

Standing in the back of the crowd is Rebecca, bleeding from the mouth and clutching her stomach, which has a hole going through it and blood sloshing to the ground beneath her. Her eyes are clenched and it looks like she's trying to scream but the heavy amount of blood in her mouth and throat are preventing her from doing so. With a final gasp she falls to the ground in a splatter and stares lifelessly at the sky. She's gone.

If this weren't enough Terrance walks over to her, rifle in hand and immediately fires another round into her head to make sure she doesn't turn. Everyone, including myself, is speechless. Carver walks over to Rebecca's corpse and falls to his knees. He's shaking so hard that I think I can feel it in the bottom of my shoes. He turns to look at Terrance with his eyes looking as if they belonged to an animal. Blood shot corneas with dilated pupils; he gets up with clenched fists and bared teeth as Terrance immediately tries to explain himself.

"No Bill I, listen it was an accident…I didn't mean to." He starts before Carver grabs him by the throat with quickness and power that scares and horrifies everyone in the pen. Even Troy at this point is backing away from the scene.

"YOU FOOL! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE?!" Carver bellows with nothing but venom seething from between his lips as he clutches Terrance's throat even tighter, causing him to drop the rifle and place his hands on Carver's wrist to try to get him to loosen his grip but to no avail. Carver shoves his head into the metal door of the pen and begins banging the back of his skull repeatedly on the door so much so that it begins leaving indentations. He shoves Terrance to the ground and begins pummeling him mercilessly. The first couple of shots break his jaw with a loud crack, the next few leave dark circles and swelling around his eyes, the ones following break his nose and bends it inwards and then his lip swells from the continued pounding. Once Carver is finished beating him with his bare hands, his face is almost unrecognizable. Bill goes for the rifle as Terrance is lying nearly motionless on the ground and no one seems to want to stop this. I stand next to Shel and she places her hand on my shoulder as Carver unloads every single round in the clip into Terrance's face. Blood, tissue, chunks of brain and even an eyeball go flying all over the place as the man that was once known as Terrance has died in possibly the worst way I've ever seen.

"…No supper or breakfast for any of you for the next 3 days; and you 3 might as well get comfy because this will be your new home until I feel like you've had enough." Carver says as he walks over to the door and exits with Troy, shutting the door and locking it behind him. We're all stuck out here with the dead bodies of Rebecca and Terrance and none of us feel like eating anyway. I may not ever eat again.

As the next few hours go by, we're all sitting around in silence and no one really knows what to say. Nick and Sarah are sitting over in the corner talking about something. I think he's trying to comfort her after what just happened. Luke, Shel, Vince, and I are sitting in the center of the pen while Carlos is busy working on Clementine.

"This is all my fault," Luke says as he places his hands on his head. "Rebecca's gone, the baby's gone, Clementine's probably gonna go too, and it's all my fault. What kind of human being am I?"

"Hey man, don't be like that. You didn't know this would happen. You were just trying to look after your people. I can respect that." Vince tries to console him. Luke's right though from what he's told us about what happened all the way up till now. It is pretty much his fault. But he doesn't need to feel like dirt because of it. It was an accident. He couldn't have known, right?

"Thanks, but it doesn't make me feel any better. People are dead. A baby, who never even got to see the world, is dead. It's my fault and I'll never get over that," Luke says as he brings his hands to his eyes rubbing them a few times as it now becomes apparent to me just how much he's been through up till now. He told us he literally got only about 2 hours of sleep in the past few days because he was trying to save his group, poor guy. I can't help but feel sympathetic for him.

This mushy stuff is starting to get to me so I get up and start walking over towards where Carlos is but Shel stops me.

"You probably shouldn't," She says as I get her meaning. She doesn't want me to see whatever the damage was to Clem and just in case she doesn't survive she doesn't want me to end up getting bit. However, what she doesn't know is that I do what I want to do, so I start to walk again when she grabs my arm and shakes her head.

"Shel, it's fine. I'm just gonna go see. I'm coming right back," I try to tell her but she's hearing none of it. So stubborn, now I know where I get that from. She's always done things the way she thought would be best. She's never done anything her whole life she didn't want to do. So I understand it's tough for her living by other people's rules especially when they don't match up with the way she wants to do things. But that goes double for me. I have a bad habit of not listening to authority, maybe it's because I used to get in trouble a lot for being a bad kid before. Maybe it's because I never really got punished for anything I did before the dead started walking. Whatever it is, I'm not changing for anyone. Apparently Shel, on the other hand, is dead set on me staying here regardless of what I want to do.

That's when we both notice Carlos coming over and we brace for whatever news he has as he wipes the blood from his hands. He gives us a sad expression and I can see that Luke's face droops as he prepares for the worst. I look over towards the bed she's lying on and she's lying perfectly still aside from her light breathing. At least she's alive, for now anyways.

"She'll live, but her entire left eye has been completely crushed. She'll never be able to see out of it again. I disinfected, sterilized, and reduced the swelling around the area as best I could but there's still a chance of an infection. I removed as much of the excess puss and orbital fragments as I could in order to reduce the risk" He says as I don't know what he just said.

"You did what?" I ask as he begins clearing his throat and rubbing his chest. My eyes widen as my arms lay at my sides while everyone else seems to be soaking in his words and taking the news rather badly. Luke's standing up and pacing back and forth running his hands down his face while Vince lowers his head, my sister mouthing the words "Oh my god."

"I removed the damaged eye. As long as she keeps it wrapped up and disinfected for the next few months she should be able to go without the wrapping if she so chooses." Carlos says as he immediately goes to sit down with the rest of the group as I stare at Clementine and walk over to her bedside. Honestly she doesn't look that bad, partially due to the fact that the worst damage is covered in a cloth and wrapping and partially due to the fact that I was able to stop her beating sooner than Carver was likely to. I pull up a chair and sit next to her as I wait for her to wake up so that I know she'll be fine.

**Nick's POV**

I'm talking to Sarah about what happened as she seems to be feeling a little better about it. She didn't see a lot of it so that may be why she's coping better than I thought she would've. She's really lucky to be honest. I wish I didn't see what I saw. Still, I'm glad I was able to do at least one thing right. I helped Clem, which may not seem like much, but I was able to get her out of there. Something I couldn't do for Uncle Pete. I wasn't gonna make that mistake twice. Still I couldn't save Rebecca, if I was just able to move fast enough I could've…

"Hey Nick?" Sarah's voice catches me off guard as I was in the middle of thinking to myself. I look down at her and she stares at me before turning away and blushing. The hell? "How old were you when you had your first girlfriend?"

"Uhh about 13, why?" I ask as she tilts her head up in thought and I narrow my eyes. Where was she going with this? I hope she doesn't want to be MY girlfriend. She's a nice girl and all but she's WAAAY too young. Besides I don't wanna have to fight Carlos, the guy's not screwed on too tightly. Which sounds just a bit hypocritical coming from me but so what? I can think whatever I want.

"No reason…well there is a reason. I met this boy a long time ago. He's here." She says to me as my eyes widen. Oh god I knew it. Ok Nick, just let her down gently and she'll be cool, right. Dammit I've never done this before. Why couldn't it have been Luke? He's much better at this sort of stuff than I am.

"Well, what is he like?" I ask as I need to make sure she's talking about me. It could be anyone for all I know.

"Well, he's really cool, a little on the shy side. But whenever stuff happens he just comes out of his shell and he turns into like the greatest guy." She says and pretty much confirms my suspicions. She's definitely talking about me. I really don't need this right now. Not with all this going on with the group. Maybe if she were just 3 years older…and Carlos wasn't her dad then maybe. I rub my head as I realize this is harder than I thought.

"Ok, well why don't you tell him how you feel and then maybe he'll tell you he doesn't like you…I mean whether or not he'll go out with you?" I ask lodging my foot in my mouth tighter than a drowning lifeguard holds onto the person he's supposed to be saving.

"Well, I am, tomorrow during work. We'll be doing the same job tomorrow so I'll talk to him then and tell him." She says as I remember Tavia saying we're gonna be working together tomorrow. Oh God what am I gonna do?

**Clementine's POV**

I get up and turn around. I don't think I'm in the pen. I was just lying on the ground but now I'm not. I look next to me and around me. I can see a back porch. A tea set. A treehouse and …this is…home. I look down and see that I'm no longer in my clothes but in a little yellow dress. I hold out my hands and they're smaller than normal. I go over to the treehouse and start to climb the ladder when a voice calls me inside.

I open the sliding door and I am greeted by a site that almost brings me to tears. My dad and mom are packing they're things as Sandra stands in the kitchen placing a walkie talkie in the drawer. My dad looks at me and smile.

"Hey, isn't that my hat?" he says as my hands go up to my head and I pull it off the mop of curls on my head. I inspect it and see that it looks almost brand new, not a single speck of dirt or grime or blood or anything. Did I just dream all of that stuff happening? No walkers, no Lee, no sewing up my arm?

"Yes, it is?" I say as my voice squeaks a lot higher than normal. I giggle at the sound of my voice and rock back and forth as I place the hat back on my head.

"Well I guess you should give it back?" He says as he walks towards me slowly. I don't wanna give him this hat back so I shake my head and Sandra grabs my arms from behind me as my mom locks the door. I look around worriedly as my dad hovers above me. Sandra picks me up and tosses me to the ground rather hard, my head bouncing off of the floor as my arms jerk up to my head and I let out a wail.

"You should've listened sweet pea, now you have to be punished." I hear a voice and I see a man come out from the hallway. It's Lee and he's got a hammer in his hand. My dad places his foot on my chest and I can feel the air leaving my lungs. I breathe as much as possible as my mom, Sandra, and Lee surround me. I look over and see Duck, Katjaa, Kenny, Ben, Mark, Christa, Omid, Lilly, Larry, Doug, and Carley, standing as if they were an audience. I look around for Lee and I don't see him. Suddenly I feel a sharp pain in my leg. I scream and they all laugh at me. I feel the tears stinging my eyes. The hurt, the betrayal, and the rage of their actions make my heart sink into the pit of my stomach. I feel another sharp pain in my other leg and I can tell it's broken by how the bone is cracked and splitting through the skin of my leg. Again they laugh and I beg them to stop. They don't listen. Suddenly, Lilly, Kenny, Ben, and Christa disappear leaving the others to continue to mock my abuse.

"You were always nothing, Clementine. Just someone to be fed and protected. You have no purpose in this life other than to be looked after by people who always end up dead because of you. You're truly a monster. You're no survivor, you're a leech." My mother's voice says to me and I'd cover my ears if it weren't for the pain causing the sound to be the least of my worries.

"You're wrong. I'm not a leech. I help people. I survived. The people who died didn't die because of me," I say.

"Oh yeah, take poor Doug here? The walkers got him. When Lee was done holding the door, don't you think it would've been smart of you to pass Carley her purse while Lee grabbed Doug? You didn't, you stood by and left Lee helpless to save Doug because you were too stupid." She continues and her words ring truth in my ear as much as it pains me. I could've done just what she said and saved two lives.

"Oh and while we're on the subject of Carley, she was shot directly in front of you. You stood not even a foot away from her and you clearly saw Lilly pointing the gun at her. You could've pushed her out of the way. Saved another life, while Lee was distracted with Kenny," she continues and I hate her now. She's pointing out my flaws and I desperately want her to stop.

"Katjaa and Duck. You abandoned them to come running to Lee. You could've helped them escape unharmed by simply telling them to come with you, or even warned them of the walker sneaking up behind them. Two more lives you could have saved." She speaks and I hate her even more. She's making everything my fault. I couldn't have...could I?

"What about Larry?" she's about to start but I'm quick to cut her off this time despite the debilitating pain in my legs. Larry's death was NOT my fault.

"Kenny killed him. He smashed his head in with a salt lick." I spit in my squeaky voice, anger clearly laced in my words. She smiles to me as she leans down to cup my cheeks in her hand.

"You were standing there, crying in the corner like a little baby when you could've warned Lilly and Lee of what Kenny was about to do. You are still at fault." She speaks to me as if she knows what I could've done. Every situation she gives an option I had that could've prevented the deaths of the people I care about. My mom lets go of my face as Lee comes into view with the hammer, the pointed part where you would remove nails is now covered in a thin layer of blood and I can see the smile on his face as he walks around me.

"Don't forget about Omid. I handpicked him and Christa to watch over you. They did all they could for you. They kept you safe, fed, and clothed. How do you repay him for his kindness, by stupidly leaving your gun on the counter for a stranger to pick up and shoot him? The worst part of it is that Christa didn't even have the heart to put him at rest so he wouldn't turn. You did it with barely any hesitation as soon as she left the room," he speaks as all of my friends begin pointing at me and chanting "_you killed us._"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" I cry out as I can't help but to start sobbing. To hear the people that I felt were like family, blame me for their deaths. To hear them say it's my fault they aren't here anymore. It hurt me more than the pain in my legs ever could. "I'm sorry! I'm SORRY! JUST STOP!" I'm pleading now as I can't bare the guilt.

My dad puts more of his weight down on my chest and I go bug eyed as I feel my lungs contract but are unable to expand properly. My mom LAUGHS at my pathetic display, trying desperately to suck in air. What do they want from me? Why are they doing this? I don't deserve to be punished like this…do I?

"You still don't get it," Lee says as he shakes his head. The group of my former peers finally stop their chanting and stand in silence, thank god, "You're not some brave survivor, you're a scared little girl looking for the next group of people to protect her from the world. This life you're living is going to be a very short one as long as you keep letting this trend continue."

"Why are you doing this? Why are you here? Why am I here? What do you want from me?" I ask and as soon as I say that I feel a warm sensation coursing through my body. I feel no more pain. My legs feel like they're almost floating off the ground but they don't hurt anymore. I turn and Lee and my mom and dad's faces are all giving me a blank expression before I blink and my eyes widen in horror. Their skin pales and eyes give off a greenish color as the pupils start to fade. I'm terrified as they become walkers before my very eyes and Lee begins to slowly raise the hammer. I turn to my left and everyone else has disappeared except the 3 above me.

Lee brings his hammer down, swinging right for my head with the pointed end as he utters words that for the first time since being held down, makes me relieved. I can feel my spirit leaving my body and the world around me fade to black, "Wake up."

**Wow, ok so this chapter is heavy in the foreshadow department and that ending was CREEPY! RIP Rebecca, AJ, and Terrance. You will all be missed. By someone excluding myself, because I knew it was going to happen and grieved beforehand. You all thought Shel was gonna die huh? Well that just goes to show you that you can't always expect the most obvious repercussions to your actions. Sometimes you have to think outside the box. Anyway, I hope this chapter makes up for the absence, as it's my longest yet. What do you thinks gonna happen next? What did you think of what happened so far?**

**Leave a review below, Let me know!**

**And I'll see you guys next time.**


	7. Destiny

**Clementine's POV **

Pain, the first thing I feel as I try to bring my head up from off of the bed I'm layin on is a thundering pain coming from my head. I grunt in agony, gritting my teeth as I force myself to sit up. I open my eyes, or try to, but only succeed in opening one. I turn to Becca who's looking at me with eyes the size of saucers (Probably due to the fact that she didn't expect me to be getting back up after all that's happened). I look at her and start to speak before she reaches around and pulls me into the tightest hug I've felt in a long time. This girl has some strength, I'll give her that. I reach around to return the hug and she smiles in response before she looks me in the eye and her face immediately saddens.

I bring my hand up to my face and its in that instant that my own eye widens. It just occurred to me the reason why I can only see out of one eye. Carver beat my face in. I hop up and run away from Becca and past the entire group as I go over to a piece of broken window sitting in the corner and pull it up so I can get a good look at myself. I hesitate and stare for what seem like minutes. Almost the entire left portion of my face is covered in a cloth and bandage with a large amount of blood soaking through the cloth portion but most of it seems to have dried. I bring my hand up to remove the bandage and wince as I pull up the cloth instead. What I see, shakes me to my core. My left eyelid has been completely stapled closed. There's a large gash just to the side of it and there's blood everywhere. I'm a freak.

I turn back to the rest of the group after having pulled the bandage back down and I can't hide the quiver in my lip as I fight back the tears threatening to spill. Almost immediately, Luke swoops in and pulls me into the second tightest hug I've felt in a long time, but I wish he'd hug me tighter. Tight enough so that I'll sink into him and disappear. I know this is the most he can do and so I accept that this hug will have to do until I find a way to sprout wings or turn invisible.

**Alvin's POV**

_Alvin. _I can hear a voice calling my name. I know it. It sounds familiar. Calm, sweet, lovely. It's Rebecca's voice. I know it. She's close. So close I could reach out and touch her. The love of my life.

_Alviiiiin._ She's calling me. This time it's louder. And longer. As if she's leading me somewhere. But I have no idea where. Or why. I see float through this vast nothingness until I come upon a light glowing off in the distance. It's beckoning me. It's taking me to her.

_Alviiiiin! _I feel a great force pulling me backwards. Away from the light. Into the darkness that's growing behind me. I reach out to her and she reaches out to me and for a split seconds our fingertips touch, but nothing more. I'm hurdling into the darkness. I can only watch her as she ascends into the light while I'm taken back into the darkness. Into the void. Into reality.

"Alvin." I hear a voice say as my eyes open. I turn and I'm greeted to a sight that makes me wish I were asleep again. William Carver is sitting in a chair just a few feet away from me and he's staring directly at me. If only my hands weren't tied up I'd show him exactly who's the bigger man.

"She always loved you, you know?" he begins and I am immediately thrown off by what he's talking about.

"No matter what, she always picked you. I've done everything I could for her. Gave her a home, food, I even let her keep your sorry ass around. I did all this, because I thought that she'd be happy. She'd see that I could make everything she wanted a reality. That I could take her to heights she never knew existed. However, she decided that I wasn't good enough. That no matter what I did for her I still couldn't provide her with the thing she wanted most. The only person who could give her that…was you. I even fucked her, right here in this office. Twice. Because she decided for those few hours that I was the better man. Then she'd get this look on her face. You know what that look was Alvin?" he rambled on as I start to understand what he's getting at and I feel my heart sink. Rebecca had sullied our marriage. Went behind my back, and then pretended it never happened.

"It was regret Alvin, but not for the reason you think. You see, she didn't think that what we did was wrong. She knew that no matter what, you wouldn't have the heart to do anything about it. She knew you'd still be the big, soft, loser you've always been. That's when she realized something. She preferred the big, soft, loser. She could have everything her way with the big, soft, loser. That he would never back talk her, he'd never step up, he'd never do anything except follow her beck and call and THAT, Alvin, is what she wanted more than anything. Control. You think she'd ever in her wildest dreams be able to control me as much as she has you? Alvin, I feel sorry for you. Even to this day, you don't have a single backbone in that big, pathetic, body." Carver went on as he stood and paced back and forth.

He looks up at the ceiling before closing his eyes and sighing, "She's dead."

"No…" I close my eyes as the tears begin to fall from my face and he notices my reaction.

"Alvin, you're not crying are you? It's not like you would've done anything to prevent it. You couldn't save her Alvin, but the worst part about all this is that I couldn't save her and our baby."

"It was our baby! Not yours!" I say and he smirks as he looks at my angered face.

"How do you know this? You didn't know about the affair, you didn't know about her death, you didn't even know that she was pregnant until AFTER she had begun to start showing."

My face noticeably faults but I hold strong to my belief. That was our baby. Me and Bec's.

"So what happens now?" I ask and now it's his turn to be shocked as I continue, "If Bec's gone then you have no reason to keep me around. You could've just killed me before telling me all of this."

"You're a smart man, Alvin. Well it's simple. I thought about just getting it over with, but I figured for once, we'd make this fair between us. On even ground. To determine once and for all who indeed is the better man. I believe I have a purpose, Alvin. God has shown me all of this for a reason. I'm going to lead us into a new age, Alvin. This world we've been thrown in has tested the medal of every human being on the planet and surviving is only the beginning. Surviving was the initial part of all this. The next phase is to thrive, Alvin. To do more than just live day to day. To grow and prosper in this new world. And then Alvin, we conquer. We take this world by force. Usher in a new age of mankind under the banner of the greatest leaders mankind has to offer. And that, Alvin, is my destiny."

"You're insane!"

"Am I, Alvin? Tell me something. Could YOU have made it this far without having been in my camp. Under my leadership I've kept several generations of families fed, clothed, and surviving. I've created an entire society within the walls of a hardware store. Do you honestly think for a second that that is something you could do."

"…That doesn't mean anything."

"It means EVERYTHING! Open your eyes Alvin and look at the big picture. I know for a fact that there is a 14 year old girl living within these walls that has the exact same power that I do. It's been decided that our destinies are intertwined. It's the reason she's alive and the baby is not. She was brought here by God and the baby wasn't deemed worthy, Alvin. It'll come down to me and her. Before this is all said and done. One of us will be standing above a sea of the strongest humans out there and that person will be the best, but until that day comes, Alvin, I'll have to deal with every obstacle that is thrown in front of me and right now, you're that obstacle."

I sit here listening to him rant on and on about his destiny and I can clearly see that something isn't right with this man. He's lost his mind. I do know one thing, however if Carver's claim is true, then God help us all.

**Sorry this chapter's so short but next week I plan on making it up as we begin to near the Season Finale of Together We Fall. This story isn't going to be over for a little while though but there WILL be a Season 2 to this story. Don't worry if your favorite characters haven't appeared yet as their appearances have been altered due to the change in the timeline of things but hopefully everyone will leave happy.**

**Leave a review below, Let me know**

**And I'll see you all next week.**


	8. Full Circle

**What's up guys? Duke Theseus here with an important update. I figured since these chapters are going to be leading towards the finale, I feel like I should be the one to inform you that I will be giving a sneak peek preview to the next season after the finale of this first season. It'll mostly be a chapter made up of different scenes from the season. A compilation if you will. As for the length I have about 3 seasons planned each venturing further down the road. Hope you enjoy this well-deserved chapter and I'll see you at the end. Also WARNING: This chapter may contain particular subject that may be found a bit M rated so this chapter is rated M for Majorly screwed.**

**(Becca's POV) **

I open my eyes to see a lot of carnage going on around me. I'm me and for the most part I feel the same aside from I can barely hear what's going on. I can feel a lot of heat covering me. I feel soaked in my own sweat while I'm lying on the ground. I can't move on account of my body is pinned under some shelves that are lying crashed on top of me. I turn my head and see a truck pulling into the cargo area. The doors in the back swing open and I see Luke and my sister shouting for people to get in with them. I see people begin pouring into the cargo bay and going towards the van but the smoke that has been covering the area.

What I can see is someone running towards me from the shoes and the size of her legs I can guess it must be Clementine. But to my horror, I'm completely overtaken as a walker falls from atop the wreckage of shelves and begins trying to get its teeth into the skin of my neck. I'm fighting tooth and nail to keep the undead guy a safe distance from me, but my strength is fading fast. I call out to Clementine with a panicked expression etched into my face. I start screaming to her as my strength leaves me further and in a last ditch effort I throw my arms in front and push back on its head as hard as I can as it tries gnawing at me.

I look to Clementine and I can see her being dragged away from me until the smoke overtakes the images of the bodies and I can hear nothing but the truck driving off as I'm left in silence as I realize that I had been left to die. I don't know what caused these events to occur and I scream out a curse as tears fill my eyes and I cry out openly, still trying to keep the walker off me and wanting nothing more than to live. After everything that's happened I don't want to die, not like this. Abandoned by my own sister. The exact same one that has told me countless times that she was going to protect me no matter if I cared to think much of it until now. The reality of my situation dons on me and I realize that I'm going to die here… I'm going to die and it's going to hurt really bad and I'm still heart-broken that my sister just left me to this fate.

"Someone help me, PLEASE!" "I don't want to die!" "Please, help me!" "I…I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Oh GOD! PLEASE!" I beg, plead, and scream as if the heavens are going to answer my prayers and make the walker and the shelves disappear. And as I take one last look up at the walker as his jaws stretch open I can only think of one thing before I meet my violent end, "I wish I could live."

I jump up and look around as I realize that due to the fact that I'm in a nasty bed with no covers that I am in fact not dying but instead had just been asleep this entire time. That was an extremely crazy nightmare. It felt so real like it had happened before or something like that. I'm brought from my thoughts by the night's sky with the moon slowly moving west. I can stare up at the sky forever. I turn to look at Clementine who's sleeping in the bed next to me and I stare at her for a bit longer than I thought. Watching her like this I think back to my dream. Of how I'm about to meet my doom and she's the only person who gave a damn enough to at least try to help me. Whatever good that did. In a way, I'm glad. Even though it was a dream and I don't think it actually counts, I can definitely see that if that happened for real. Even if I did die. I'd be happy that someone would care enough to come back for me.

What puzzles me the most about the dream is that I wonder why Shel didn't come back for her own BLOOD sister? Did she have no choice? Did she think I was already a lost cause and as good as dead? My internal thoughts are interrupted by someone getting up and walking over to the ladder off to the front of the pen. I watch the person, who's tall enough that I can tell it's an adult so it rules out Sarah, who'd never have the backbone to do something like this, and Clem's still asleep so she's ruled out by that and the fact that she's the shortest and youngest person here. I wait until they climb the ladder and go out of sight before I look around to make sure everyone else is asleep. Good.

I, as quietly as possible, get up and walk towards the ladder. Being extra careful as I'd most certainly be in hot shit if I got caught out here. I try to reach the ladder only for my height to fail me. Looking around I notice the lawn chairs sitting out and I grab one, bringing it over to the ladder and standing in it. I jump up and grab the rungs, pulling myself up and onto the ladder. I climb up slowly as to make sure that I don't have someone spot me up here and I look around to make sure the patrolling guards don't see me. As I make my way to the top of the ladder and onto the roof I walk towards the greenhouse and try looking inside. I can make out the silhouettes of two people who appear to be talking back and forth. I'm pulled from my thoughts however as I'm grabbed from behind and pulled away with someone's hand over my mouth. The hair on the back of my neck stands up and I look around panicked. I'm gonna be in so much trouble. I get pulled into a stairwell and pushed up against a wall where I can see exactly who grabbed me. None other than Carver's second favorite stooge, Troy.

This is not good and he knows it because before I can even get a lie out to explain myself I'm slapped right across my face and I hold my cheek as he stares angrily at me. "The fuck are you doing up here girly, curfews long passed. Just wait until Bill hears about this." He says as he reaches for the walkie talkie on his side and I scream.

"No! I was…look I don't wanna get in trouble, please don't tell him," I plea and he raises an eyebrow.

"Why the fuck not?" He says and I'm thinking that he might die if he doesn't include some form of the word fuck in every other sentence.

"Because I…look just let me go and I promise I won't ever do it again. I'm really sorry for sneaking out and I…what?" I say as I look at him explaining myself and I notice that he just drops the walkie talkie and takes a step towards me and I immediately begin looking towards the door.

"I guess I could let you off the hook, just this one time. I'm in a good mood and if you can keep me in a good mood, we'll put all of this behind us." He says smirking at me. I can feel his eyes undressing me and my stomach flips 6 times over.

"What are you saying?" I look at him as I tilt my head and he just keeps looking at me. His eyes are telling the story and I throw my hands up in front of me. "Oh, no. No-fucking-way am I doing THAT. You've gotta be nuts!" I say and I get knocked to the floor as my head bounces off the concrete floor below us. My head is swimming and my eyes are tearing up but I can make out Troy hovering over me while unzipping his pants.

"I don't recall saying you had a choice," He laughs as I try with what little strength I have left to fight him off. It doesn't last very long. I lose the fight in a matter of seconds and as I feel my pants being pulled off of me I know for the first time in my life, I wish my sister had just stopped me.

**Clementine's POV**

I feel someone shaking me softly to wake me up and I turn groggily. I open my eyes, well eye, and I look up to see Luke who's looking at me worriedly. I look around and I can see everyone's up except for me. Sarah is standing behind her dad while Nick and Vince are talking to Shel who seems to be arguing with Vince about something.

"What's going on?" I ask and Luke looks at me, helping me to my feet. As we walk over to the rest of the group I notice Becca isn't here. I wonder where she is.

"Apparently, Tavia's got some news that she's going to be giving us," He says and I look around again to make sure that I wasn't mistaken in that Becca is most certainly not here.

I look up to Luke who notices the worry start to creep onto my face, "Where's Becca?"

"No one knows. Shel's throwing a fit and no one's seen Becca since last night," he tells me. No one's seen her since last night. Isn't there a curfew? Where could she have gone?

These questions will have to wait until later as Tavia comes out of the front entrance and begins talking.

"You all have been causing a lot of problems since you got here as far as Bill is concerned so he's asked me to take charge over this group. I know a few of you may not like me that much but it's not up for debate. We're just going to have to deal with it until he decides you're capable of looking after yourselves," Tavia informs us.

"Where's my sister?" Shel asks her almost immediately after she stops talking.

Tavia looks around the pen confirming that Becca is NOT here and shrugs her shoulders.

"She's not here? No one's reported anything about someone being missing in the pen. Hold on," she says as she takes out her walkie talkie, "Troy, come in. Hey, Troy? That's odd. His radio must be off. No one's picking up on the other line."

"Call Bonnie," Shel instructs as she crosses her arms, tapping her finger. Everyone looks at her in shock. Even Tavia seems taken back but calls in nonetheless.

"Bonnie?" Tavia says and is quickly responded to.

"Yeah, Tavia?" Bonnie's voice can be heard on the other end.

"Do you know where Becca is? She isn't in the pen."

"No, I haven't seen her. Shouldn't she be out with the others in the pen?"

"Well I'M out here in the pen and no, she's not here."

"Well no one's come in or out of the door. Someone would've seen if they had. I don't know where she could be."

"Ok, Bonnie. Thanks, keep me posted if you find her," Tavia says before turning to Shel and the rest of us, "No one's seen her. She could've snuck out over the gate and-"

"Bullshit! The gates too high, and plus it's boarded up. No one's getting out through there," Shel interrupts her.

"Listen, Shel. I don't know where Becca is, she probably just went to use the bathroom or something. Just calm down, she'll turn up."

"I swear to god if she isn't back here in the next 15 minutes I'm going to-"

"Tavia! Answer me, come on!" Everyone stops and stares as Tavia picks up her walkie talkie.

"Yes, Wyatt?" she replies though her voice notes a hint of concern and she tries to hide it with a stern expression.

"You have to send Carlos up here NOW! Something happened to Becca," The man's voice can be heard and he's clearly trying his best not to panic.

"Where are you?" Tavia asks as she turns to head back inside, Shel right on her heels.

"Rooftop stairwell," he says and Shel goes sprinting past Tavia in the direction of the stairwell.

"Sarah, stay here with Clem. I'll be right back," Carlos says as he goes to follow Tavia Sarah tries to speak but is cut off, "I won't be long, sweetie just stay here. Luke, you're in charge, watch the others."

Luke nods and Sarah's lip quivers as she lets out a small whine. I walk her over to the chairs near where the fireplace is and I look at the chairs realizing something's off.

"Wait a minute," I say and Sarah turns to me.

"What is it?" she says having calmed down.

"There's a chair missing," I say and look around the pen.

"It's not missing," Sarah says and I turn to her in shock as she points to the corner where the ladder is. The chair is positioned right under the ladder and we look at each other as we both come to the same realization. That's where she must've gone. But that leaves the question. What happened? Before I can say another word, a series of profanities come flying out from inside causing both Sarah and I to go running in. Luke following behind to get us to come back as he was in charge of watching us. I didn't think Sarah would come along but she's probably worried about Carlos.

It isn't long before we see what's going on. Carlos comes running out of the stairwell carrying a whimpering and sobbing Sarah who's naked from the waist down and to where the makeshift infirmary is. Shel, who's angrily spouting a series of curses with tears streaming down her face, comes out next not even a second behind as she follows Carlos. The last to come out is Tavia and Wyatt who looks visibly disturbed.

"W-what happened?" Luke asks as he looks at the scene with as much horror on his face as both Sarah's and my own.

"Well… there's no easy way to say this… from what we can gather she's…been raped," Tavia says as she brings her hand to the bridge of her nose, "I just… this is too much," She says as she stands there with her eyes closed and shaking her head.

"I found her upstairs in the stairwell on the roof. I called Tavia as soon as I could," Wyatt says bringing his hands to his head. "This is so fucked up."

**Becca's POV**

I haven't said a word. What is there to say? I fucked up… big time. I can't even think straight from being in so much pain and I can barely keep myself awake. The best part of any of this is that I passed out while Troy was….was…I can't even say it. I've been looking at the floor the entire time Carlos and Shel have been here I hadn't even fully registered that I was brought to the infirmary until I noticed the floor tiles change.

Carlos and Shel cleaned me up as best they could and I'm currently sitting here in silence as Shel paces back and forth talking to herself.

"This is all my fault, I should've come sooner. I can't….I just…. Oh god! Becca I'm so sorry, I'm a horrible sister!" Shel finally breaks down and falls slump against the wall, crying into her hands.

"This isn't your fault," Carlos says and I wholeheartedly agree. It's mine. I caused this. If I hadn't snuck out nothing like this would've happened. It's crazy, Shel warned me back when we were at the diner about how dangerous sneaking out is and it's finally caught up with me. I've reaped exactly what I sowed and I have no one else to blame but myself.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and I jerk, looking up with fear only to see Carlos standing there.

"Becca I know this hurts you but I'm going to need your help. We can help you but you have to help us. Do you remember what happened? Do you know who did this to you?"

I weigh out my options and I'm utterly terrified. I could tell them right now who did it but if I do who knows what Troy or Carver would do. Troy's his best man and if something like this gets out because of me then there would be hell to pay. No one would be safe. It'd be utter chaos. Or I could lie. Just say I don't remember what happened, say I blacked out. It wouldn't (completely) be a lie and plus if I told, then I'd just be incriminating myself because I WAS the one who snuck out after curfew in the first place. I look between Carlos and Shel biting my lip before I answer.

**(TELL THE TRUTH)**

**(LIE TO THEM)**

**Well that's been a really hard chapter to write. Hopefully it makes up for the shorter one that I posted about a week or so ago. Yes this is the climax of the story meaning that this season is coming to a close. So place your votes and be sure to tell me your thoughts. **

**Leave a review below**

**Let me know**

**And I'll see you guys next chapter.**


	9. Avengers Assemble

**Welcome back to Together We Fall. This is the last chapter before the 3 part conclusion to Together We Fall. Basically, this is like the end of episode 4. Don't worry I did say I was going to give you all a sneak peek to the next season to the story and I still plan on doing that. I'd do it now but there's no way I can do so spoiler-free. I want to give you a good synopsis of what to be expecting but it will be looking back towards the finale in some parts which would spoil the surprises. Sayonara till the end.**

**(TELL THE TRUTH)**

**Becca's POV**

I look down to my lap and nod slowly as I sink my teeth between the layers of skin coating my lower lip. Carlos and Shel both give me the most intense stares I've ever seen and I can tell that they're waiting for me to spill what I know.

"I saw someone sneaking up to the roof, from in the pen," I say in a lower tone, not trying to speak too loudly. Who knows who could be listening? Carlos raises an eyebrow while my sister continues her seriousness.

"I followed them to see what they were doing. I couldn't see who the person was but they were in the greenhouse. I got grabbed and brought into the stairwell. We talked for a bit and I was scared he was gonna tell Carver. He said he'd keep quiet about it if I… I… you know. I told him off and he grabbed me and threw me on the ground. I hit my head and I got dizzy. I couldn't stop him. I had barely any strength to fight him off and then he just…" I stop unable to even keep explaining when I feel a strong grip on my knee. I lift up my head to see my sister's eyes which are beginning to look more blood thirsty by the second. She's fuming, so much so that even Carlos is looking concerned.

"Who?" She says to me in a dark tone. Her voice is low and clear. I've never been more afraid of anyone than I am right now. I've never seen her like this. Her palm is shaking on my knee and I watch the tears start to run down her face as she scowls. I gulp before I open my mouth to unleash the beast.

"T-Troy," I say lowly and the chains fall dramatically to the ground. The beast's paws have been freed and the door to the cage has opened.

Shel jumps to her feet and turns around making a bee-line for the door. Carlos goes to grab her and she grabs his arm with a quickness I've never known her to possess and she tosses him unceremoniously over her shoulder and to the floor with a hard thud, knocking the wind out of the Hispanic doctor. I jump down still groggy and try to move my way between her and the door. She stops a few inches in front of me and stares down at me with a look I can't even begin to describe. I start backing up slightly before stilling myself.

"Shel just hold on a second. Please don't do anything rash," I say and she shoves me, albeit gently, away from her path and I lock my arms around her. She looks back at me before grabbing my arms and pulling them to try to loosen my grip. She's stronger than me but I lock my fingers in order to make them harder to pry off.

"Get off me, right now!" She commands with an authority so strong I nearly do so. I continue to hold onto her and after a minute I can feel her shaking lightly and feel a wetness dripping onto my hands. Evidently, she had been holding in her emotions in the middle of my explanation in order to make it easier on me but the floodgates couldn't stay closed for long. Carlos, now back to his feet puts his arms around her and she falls into his grip, crying into him while I let my sore fingers go and sigh in relief. The beast is stalled… for now.

"Shel, you must calm yourself. You're going to get yourself or someone else killed," He says to her now that she's calmed a little.

Shel lets go of him and wipes her eyes, her scowl returning. "Carlos?"

"Yes?" He responds.

"I need you to get with Luke and come up with an exit strategy. We're gonna need as much stock as we can carry and a getaway vehicle," Shel says as she looks back at him.

"W-What are you planning to do?" I say as I pull myself to her side.

"First, I'm going to kill Troy. Then I'm going to kill Carver. Then I'm going to burn this place to the ground," Shel explains and Carlos and I are both speechless trying to process the information. I blink a few times before speaking up.

"That's crazy! Why would you do that? What about all the families here. People just like us who want to survive. We can't just let them all die." I say uncharacteristically. I'm one of the most selfish people I know. Dammit Clem, you're rubbing off on me already.

"Anyone who wants to survive will come with us. Anyone who wants to stay in this abomination is more than welcome to walk on its ashes. This is just like the diner all over again. We can't keep listening to every word people tell us just because we want to make it. Sometimes we have to trust ourselves. Tavia and Carver are liars. They promised us a safe haven and just look at us. Sleeping out in the cold. Starving. Being treated like fucking slaves. I'm not doing this shit anymore and I'm not letting them do that to my family. We're going to make it. I promise," Shel kneels down and speaks to me as she faces me. Replacing the scowl with a smile the more she went on. I nod and smile back as Carlos opens the door while nodding to Shel.

"I'll get to work on the escape plan in a little while," he says as we all exit the infirmary.

We exit the doorway and are immediately greeted by Tavia who asks us to come with her.

"Listen, I know what happened wasn't… right. I told you guys you'd be safe when you came with me and so far I've failed you. I'm sorry. I can't believe what this place is becoming. Everything was easier before all of this. Now that the dead are walking we have to rely on others just to survive. Over time you watch people change. Some for the better, others not so much. There was never a time where I ever thought something like this would happen. Not here anyway," Tavia speaks while we walk with her.

"The man who runs this community is a psychopath. He was always snide. I know a snake when I see one," Shel folds her arms.

"I know he's not always nice to people but no matter where you go you aren't going to find many communities with our type of success. We've had very minimal accidents. Only 4 reported cases of someone getting bitten, 3 of which were non-fatal. Many families discovering lost relatives. A well-stocked supply of food and solar power. Raids are far and few between and we've never been invaded by bandits. You can't get results like that just anywhere. His methods may be cruel but they're effective in maintaining the lives of more people than anywhere I've ever been," Tavia defends and to her credit, her point is quite valid. Carver may be a total asshole, but he's kept everyone here fed, clothed, and alive. That's more than a lot of people can say.

"That's completely fine but I don't think it's gonna matter how good of a leader he is when I kill him and burn this place to the ground," Shel states coldly and Tavia looks back at her in shock.

"You mean he's the one who…" Tavia searches our eyes for answers but Shel shakes her head.

"No, Troy. But this is an issue that goes all the way up to the top. Carver needs to go down and I intend to take him there," Shel speaks to Tavia with what I can only say is concealed rage.

"Shel, please just… not do this. I don't want something bad to happen to you," Tavia says and immediately regrets her phrasing because Shel pushes her straight up against the wall glaring daggers into her. Normally Tavia would probably overpower Shel but with her anger controlling her while Tavia is completely off guard, this isn't looking good for Tavia.

"Is that a threat? If you so much as lay a finger on me or my sister I will break both your legs," Shel speaks as she gets directly in Tavia's face with her grip very much still on the darker woman.

"Shel calm down. I wasn't threatening you. I was just saying that what you have planned is only going to get a lot of people hurt," Tavia says in a more serious tone, now having found her bearings.

Shel looks at her for a moment and releases Tavia from her grip. Backing off and now forcing herself to calm down, she looks back at me as my expression saddens, showing my disapproval.

"Bill and Troy are both gone. They took one of the trucks out and said they'll be back in the morning. That's what I was trying to explain to you earlier before you kept interrupting me. I'm in charge, until they get back," Tavia reveals and I can see the expression on Shel's face begin to change as the cogwheels begin turning in her head. A smile forms on her lips soon after.

Tavia, knowing exactly what she was doing, throws up her hand and shakes her head.

"I am not going to be a part of your little vendetta. I have a community to uphold for a day and I don't want to spend my day plotting how to ruin the lives of every person within these walls," Tavia says and Shel steps forward.

"What about you?" Shel says smiling.

Tavia raises an eyebrow in genuine confusion, "Excuse me?"

"We all know Carver likes his women on the darker side. Pardon the phrase. What happens now that Rebecca's out of the picture? You're closer to him than just about anyone here. He's definitely going to go after you next. It only makes sense. What happens then? Are you just going to let him take advantage of you? You know what he's like. He's not going to take too lightly to you declining his advances. Troy got away with it. You think he won't? We can make sure it doesn't come to that. We can stop him before he gets that far," Shel says and my jaw almost literally falls to the floor.

I've never seen someone with the ability to manipulate people like that since well… Carver. Where has she been hiding this talent? Well she did talk us out of killing that guy back at the diner but she had help. She also convinced me that we were safer here and even though she was wrong, she still managed to get me to believe her in the first place.

Tavia listens to Shel's words and I can see her walls starting to crumble. However she holds fast.

"You're not going to manipulate me, so just stop wasting your time," Tavia folds her arms over her rather sizable chest.

"Carver's already manipulating you," Shel says and Tavia perks up.

"What are you talking about?" Tavia asks.

"He's using you. He thinks that by using you he could lure us into a false sense of security because we know you. Why else would he send someone who likes us to come watch over us? Becca, Vince, and I have ties to you and he's exploiting them to his benefit," Shel continues.

Tavia looks around as if searching her mind to determine whether or not the things my sister say are true and she begins to waver as Shel begins putting the final nails in the coffin.

"What happens when you stop being useful to him. After he gets what he wants. You know exactly what he sees you as. A replacement Rebecca. You know it, I know it. Help us. Help _me_ change things. To stop the oppression. To stop this dictatorship. To stop him from turning us into people like him, worse than walkers."

Tavia looks her over a few times while contemplating my sister's offer. To her credit, she held out a lot longer than I thought she would but she's no match for my sister's skill.

"Alright fine, you've convinced me… but I swear if this goes bad. You better hope I don't get my hands on you," Tavia says.

"I won't even try to stop you," Shel comments.

**Vince's POV **

Man, we can't catch a break. It was one bad enough before we got here. Things just keep seeming to get worse over time. I almost couldn't believe what Luke had told us when he got back but with Sarah, Wyatt, and Clementine confirming what he had told me I only responded the best way I could. By kicking one of the chairs clear over the gate. Hey, Becca's one of the coolest people I know and to have something like that happen to her just… hurts. I bring my hands to my head as I sit out here. I haven't moved from this spot in the back of the pen since the others came back. Wyatt had already gone back inside and Clem, Sarah, and Luke have all gone with Bonnie and Nick to go to work. I'm not going anywhere. I have to get us the fuck out of here. We can't stay here anymore. It's just too risky now. Things have only gotten bad to worst and there isn't much stopping it with Carver looking over our shoulders. I need to think of something. We don't have a whole lot of time and with more of us getting hurt by the day, it doesn't look like sticking around is going to help us. No, fuck running away.

I know what we need to do. We need to take out Carver. We could take over the camp. Get everyone behind us and force Carver and his crew out. If we can somehow get the community to rally behind us, we should be able to take this place over and run it the right way. No more being treated like animals. No more abuse. No more William Carver.

I look around, making sure I'm not being watched and make my way to the door leading inside the building. No one's around, good. I make my way towards the stairs leading towards Bill's office. I'm just about to make my way to the stairs when as soon as I open the door I'm greeted to a surprise as I see someone I hadn't been expecting to run into right now, Russel.

"Hey man, how's it going?" Russel asks me, smiling as he holds the rifle in his hands.

"Not too good. Is Bill in his office?" I ask to which he shakes his head.

"Nope he's been gone all morning," Russel responds and I see a look of suspicion start to cross his face. "Why, what are you doing?"

"Why so suspicious, all I did was ask where Bill was. We've been friends a long while. Did that fact slip your mind?" I say to him and he seems to immediately regret his response.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be all on your case like that. I'm just not really trusting of a lot of people, especially after that whole incident with Nate. I'm just on edge is all. I keep feeling like everyone's just out to cause trouble."

"It's ok man, no harm done," I place a hand on his shoulder.

"I still can't believe he just… shot those people. They couldn't possibly defend themselves," he says looking at the ground.

"Yeah, but look on the bright side. You stood up to him. He was a bully and you didn't let him turn you into one. You're a good kid. You know, you remind me of my own little brother."

"Thanks, you know I'm glad we met. You, me, Shel, Becca, Bonnie, and Wyatt. We came in as something like a family. We were the only people we had to depend on. I miss my grandma."

"I know you do, I miss my folks too. All we can do now is look out for each other."

"Right, I got your back."

"Good, because I need you to do me a favor."

"Wait, what?"

Before Russel could even get an answer I walk right past him and up towards Bill's office. Russel walks behind me, looking back hesitantly.

"I'm going to break into Bill's office. I need to find out something that could get us to turn the tables on him."

"Turn the tables? Vince what's going on?"

"Ok, we don't have a lot of time. Someone's bound to show up. After we do this, I promise I'll explain everything. Right now, we need to get into that office."

"…Alright. Just hurry up. I'll keep watch and make sure we don't get caught," Russel says and I turn to the door in front of me. The door's locked of course and I'm sure neither of us have a key to open it.

I reach into my pockets looking for something to use but all I have on me is some lint, a stick of gum, a pen, and a paperclip. Wait, the paperclip might work. I take it out and slip it into the lock.

"I don't suppose you know how to pick a lock," I joke as I fiddle with the lock.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Russel says and I laugh under my breath.

"Nothing I just figured since you were," I say stopping right there knowing exactly what he's thinking as I wait for him to respond.

"Black?" he says with offense clearly etched in his voice.

"I was gonna say urban," I say with a smirk and he groans. If he wasn't holding his rifle he'd probably have facepalmed too.

_**Cachink!**_

Jackpot! I open the door and slip inside. I notice a light on the chair in the room and turn to face it as my eyes grow as wide as plates. There's rope on the chair, discarded on the floor around the chair and stains of blood on the seat. It looks recent, what the fuck does Carver do in here. I waste no time in making a mental note of this before going to his desk. I open every drawer I can. I don't find much besides some old handbooks from when the store was running and a small handgun. Yeah, I'm so taking this. Only one bullet. Useful but also annoying. I'm sure I can get Bonnie to slide me some more ammo under the table later. After a little while of searching I come up with something.

"This is perfect," I say slipping the item into my pocket before Russel's head peers into the doorway.

"Good, now let's go. Someone could show up any second."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming," I say as I walk out of the door and close it, making sure to lock it back as to leave no evidence behind. I've learned my lesson about leaving evidence.

**Luke's POV**

"Hey Luke can I ask you a question?" Nick approaches me from the opposite side of the room we're in. I've been hammering at this same wall since we got in here. Bonnie's talking with Clem. The two seem to be hitting it off pretty well. I turn to Clem who smiles at me before going back to chat up Bonnie. She seems a lot better since her injury but luckily for her, she seems like she's going to be fine. If her eye gets worse than who knows what could happen.

I turn back to Nick and nod waiting for him to go ahead with his question.

"Has Sarah ever… said anything to you about… maybe a guy or something?" He asks scratching at the hair on his chin. I look at him and shake my head. Why would he ask something like that? Sarah hasn't said anything to me about much lately let alone guys. I mean she is at an age where that sort of thing is common but with the lurkers and her dad I figured that would be the last thing on her mind.

"Why do you ask?" I say and he lowers his voice.

"I think she has a crush… on me," he says and I stand still for a moment. Laughter erupts from me in a storm and I double over. I laugh for a good 2 minutes before I finally catch my breath, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh aha, thanks man. With the way these few days has been I needed that. I really did. It's good to laugh every once in a while." I say and he looks at me in shock.

"No I'm not joking here, Luke. She likes me. She said so herself," He says and I bring a hand up to wipe the tear out of my eye.

"So, no bullshit?" I say and he nods.

"No bullshit," he answers.

I stare at him and glance over towards Sarah, who's been staring out of the window for some time now. Like she's waiting for something.

"You should go talk to her," I tell him. He sighs probably having figured this out on his own and he walks as I wish him luck. Yeah, Carlos won't be too thrilled but technically, Sarah is the legal age of consent so there really isn't too much of a problem to me. The age gap is pretty big but in this world we live in, well…finding love is a lot harder than it was before and if they're happy then all I can do is be happy for em.

I go back to working on the wall but run out of nails. Luckily, just as I'm about to ask for some Bonnie's already behind me; finished with her talk with Clem, handing me another box.

"Thank you,"

"You're welcome, Luke," She replies. I open the box and start to hammer more nails into the wall, "You know, Bill's gonna be gone all day."

I drop the box and turn to her, "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that there could be an 'emergency' that requires all the guards on the west wing of the building and in the confusion a small group could potentially… get out," Bonnie speaks to me.

"Where'd you get this from?" I say as I want to know just what she's talking about.

"We can go Luke. You, me, Clem, and the others. We can leave," Bonnie says to me and I'm still in shock trying to process this.

"I know that but, why are you offering to help us?" I ask.

"Clem told me about what Carver did, and also what happened to Becca. I can't live in a place like this. Bill's not the man I thought he was. He deceived me, just like all the other men in my life," Bonnie's voice saddens. I remember the talks we used to have before we left the first time. Me, Bonnie, Nick, and Pete would go to the far side of the parking lot and just talk about the past. She opened up after Pete started to bring beer with him and once she got drinking she became an open book. Everything from the drug addiction, to surviving with Dee and Leland, to staying with Vince's group before being picked up by Tavia.

"Hey, not all guys are bad right?" I say as I try to lighten the mood a little with a smile.

"Well, I suppose not ALL of them. But, if you could find one or two, let me know," She smiles back to me and I faux flinch.

"Ouch, and here I thought I was a role model," I laugh.

"Maybe to a boy scout," Bonnie replies as she joins in.

"So I am a good guy."

"So long as you don't change. But the moment you start preaching about how good a life I'm going to have with you, I'm leaving."

"Deal."

**Nick's POV**

I can't believe this. I shouldn't have gone to Luke. I wish he would've just told me to don't worry about it or that I'm just overthinking this. Obviously he must have noticed something. He told me to talk to her. I know what he really meant. He wanted me to explain how I feel to her. But, how can I turn her down without hurting her feelings. If I go through with it, Carlos will be pissed. If I don't and she gets her heart broken, Carlos will be pissed. Why is this happening to me? I wish Uncle Pete were here. He'd just tell me to suck it up and handle this like a man. Alright fine. This one's for you, Uncle Pete.

I walk over to Sarah and stand next to her.

"Hey Sarah, what are you up to?" I say in the most awkward way possible.

"Oh, hi Nick. I'm just standing here," She replies. She's playing coy. I know she was waiting for me to come talk to her, why else would she be standing over here by herself.

"Cool, cool. That's cool. So… you remember what we talked about?" I say and she looks down, nodding.

"Well that's actually part of why I was over here. You see I was trying to get him to come talk to me away from everyone else."

I KNEW IT! She DID want me to come talk to her. You see, she just admitted it. I can feel a lump in my throat and I can't help but to feel somewhat guilty about what I'm about to do.

"Sarah?" I say and she turns to me. "Listen, I know how you feel but what would your dad think? If this keeps going on I don't know what could happen, it's just too dangerous."

"I know my dad. He'll be mad but he'll be fine after a little while. I already talked to Clem about it. She said so herself."

"You told CLEM?!" I say a little louder than I had meant to and lower my voice again. Luckily no one was paying any attention to us so my words were left unheard.

"Yeah, she's my best friend. Why wouldn't I tell her?"

"You know, I thought this was a secret."

"It is, just not to Clem."

"And she said she wasn't going to say anything?"

"She told me to trust my feelings and that if I really liked him I should go for it. The worst he can say is no."

"So you're perfectly fine with being turned down. You won't be all heart broken and stuff."

"I'll be sad but I think I'll be ok. We'll still be friends."

Oh what a relief. I thought this was going to be so much harder, "That's great, Sarah. You keep your head up and you'll be just like your dad."

Sarah turns up her nose immediately. "I don't think I wanna be like my dad. He's… well, my dad."

We both laugh before she hugs me. "Thanks Nick, I'm glad you talked to me."

"No problem, Sarah" I say, turning around and walking back to go do something productive. I walk past Clem who turns towards me and I give her the thumbs up. She looks at me before raising her eyebrow as I walk by.

**Becca's POV**

_**Flick! Flick!**_

"Finally, this lighter sucks!" I say to Wyatt who laughs as I light the joint in my hand. I toss the lighter to Wyatt who pockets it. After taking a few doses of my "medicine" I pass it off to Wyatt who takes it and proceeds to take some himself.

"You'd be surprised how easy lighters are to come by in a hardware store," He says and I laugh.

"And you just so happen to find the only one that barely works,"

We're sitting at the fireplace in the pen the sun at the sky's peak. So it's somewhere around midday. I wait for Wyatt to get done before passing back the joint for my round. I know Shel busted me once, but dammit this stuff works miracles. Plus, with Wyatt showing me the ropes I became a pro long before we got to Howe's. It took a while to learn how to roll my own joint but evidently, from how much coughing we did a few weeks ago, it's safe to say I got it down.

"So your sister's planning on dethroning Bill?" He says and I shrug.

"You make it sound easy when you say it like that," I comment and it's his turn to shrug.

"I just think it sounds crazy."

"But the dead people walking around outside is perfectly normal."

"Touché, but I'm saying that I don't think it'll work."

"Then you don't know my sister. I've seen her like this before. Once she's set on doing something she puts everything on the line. Like when we ran away from the diner. She just up and grabbed the keys and pulled off right that second. Absolutely no fucks given," I say passing back the joint.

"We have a lot of things going for us. We have my sister and Vince, not to mention Luke and Carlos, even Tavia. Come on admit it, we got the dream team. Carver's going down."

"What we have is a bunch of people going up against a maniac and no plan."

"Come on, we can, like, own this place."

"Yeah and the other 60 or so people are just going to let us take charge because we say he's bad."

"Uhhh, yeah?"

"You're going to need more than just a small group and guns. You're gonna need a plan," He takes another few hits and passes back to me.

"Of course, we're going to need more weed. If we get everyone high then no one'll be in the mood to stop us."

"Eddie that's not... fuck…Becca that's never going to work," He stumbles and I laugh my ass off.

"You're so high," I say and I take my hits before passing the joint to the outstretched hand next to me thinking it's Wyatt.

I look for a minute and realize that Wyatt is sitting to my left, not my right. I turn my head and see Shel standing right over me. Busted. Again.

To my surprise all she does is sigh with one of those disappointing "Becca" lines she always says when she's disappointed in me. She looks at the joint in her hand and Wyatt and I both stare in shock as she actually takes a hit before flicking it away.

"Well if you can't beat em, right?" She says and I can read between the lines of her words. She's my sister. I've known her my whole life. She does this thing sometimes where she says something but it's like a hidden message in her words. She's really saying that because of what happened earlier, I get a free pass to smoke. She figures it'll help me. She's not necessarily wrong, though.

Soon after Tavia comes out from inside as well, "Does anyone have any suggestions on what we're about to do?" I say to the 3 around me.

"I've got an idea," a voice says as we all turn to see Luke coming, followed by Clem, Bonnie, and Nick, "We get out of here, while Bill's gone. Bonnie can distract everyone long enough for us to sneak out and get a head start before he comes back."

"Luke, fuck that. We aren't moving until Carver and Troy are dead," Shel speaks up, shooting him down immediately.

"Look I know you want revenge for Becca but if we wait around we'll just be endangering our group even more."

"This place is going up in flames. Carver and Troy are going to die. THEN, we can leave."

"Come on, Shel. We can't burn down the store, there are families here."

"Why does it seem like I'm the only one who gives a fuck about mine? My sister was RAPED!"

"I'm right here, you know," I speak up.

"I know that," Shel replies.

"Well, will you stop acting like I died?! Jesus! Ever since it happened you've been going on this tirade and acting like I'm dying or something. Yes I was assaulted but don't act like I'm one foot in the grave!" I yell out now and Shel seemingly calms down now that I've given her my perspective.

All eyes are on me and I can tell just about everyone here is feeling a little down about it.

"I'm sorry, Becca. I just have to… I can't let them get away with it. Maybe we don't have to burn the place down. But, I still want Carver and Troy."

"The way I see it, we got two choices," Vince says as he, Sarah, Carlos, and Russel come out to join us, "We can do this Shel's way. We kill Carver and Troy, take what we can and get out of here."

"Or…" Luke asks as Vince pulls out a folder.

"We can use this, get Carver and his goons tossed out on their ass and make sure they never come back."

I open the folder and look inside. My eyes almost pop out of my head and I can only flip through page after page with my mouth hanging open.

"…THAT MOTHERFUCKER!" I scream out and everyone is shocked at me.

"He's been lying to us, all of us," Vince states as he walks over, "He was going to turn the community into his own utopia."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Nick asks as I point into the folder.

"He's turning this place into his own personal kingdom. The records are showing the charges for food that were going to begin going into effect. Not just food, protection too. He was planning on playing landlord and start charging people for supplies and meals. The men were going to be used as his personal guards and workers while the women were basically going to have to become prostitutes, performing sexual acts in exchange for medicine and food and anyone who became a problem he'd just force them out into the pen… which would basically serve as jail. This guy's out of control," I add my anger rising.

"He's playing with people's lives," Tavia gasped.

No one seemed to know just what to do or say but someone made their way through the crowd and it wasn't long before Clem stepped out into the center of the circle gathered here where she grabbed the folder before turning back to face all of us.

"We're going to stop him," Clem says to the rest of us who smile back. Sarah rushes up to the front of the group and sticks out her hand and everyone catches on as Clem, Luke, Bonnie, and Carlos put their hands on top of hers. Shel looks to be deep in thought about whether or not to go through with it but adds her hand to the pile followed by Vince and Wyatt; Tavia sighs and adds her hand although I could tell she did so to refrain from looking awkward. I add my hand to the pile along with Nick. Russel stands there looking at everyone before turning to Vince who nods and smiles.

"Alright, fine. Go Team," He huffs and reluctantly puts his hand in.

Maybe it's the fact that I'm high right now, but I really feel good about this. This is the first time I've ever seen all of us together like this. To say it feels awesome is an understatement. I'm getting chills. But, I know one thing.

William Carver is in for the fight of his life.

**That's the end of the chapter and congrats. You're now entering the 3 part conclusion to Together We Fall. This chapter was probably the hardest I've ever written and its triple the size of any chapter I've written before. I really like how it came out and I'm pretty sure everyone came out of that chapter totally stoked. Anyway as always.**

**Leave a review below, Let me know**

**And I'll see you all next chapter, amigos. :3**


End file.
